RHSA-2011:0163 - Security Advisory

Topic

Updated kernel packages that fix one security issue and three bugs are now
available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having
important security impact. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS)
base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available from the
CVE link in the References section.

Description

The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux
operating system.

This update fixes the following security issue:

• A flaw was found in the sctp_icmp_proto_unreachable() function in the

Linux kernel's Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) implementation.
A remote attacker could use this flaw to cause a denial of service.
(CVE-2010-4526, Important)

This update also fixes the following bugs:

• Due to an off-by-one error, gfs2_grow failed to take the very last "rgrp"

parameter into account when adding up the new free space. With this update,
the GFS2 kernel properly counts all the new resource groups and fixes the
"statfs" file correctly. (BZ#666792)

• Prior to this update, a multi-threaded application, which invoked

popen(3) internally, could cause a thread stall by FILE lock corruption.
The application program waited for a FILE lock in glibc, but the lock
seemed to be corrupted, which was caused by a race condition in the COW (Copy On
Write) logic. With this update, the race condition was corrected and FILE lock
corruption no longer occurs. (BZ#667050)

• If an error occurred during I/O, the SCSI driver reset the "megaraid_sas"

controller to restore it to normal state. However, on Red Hat Enterprise
Linux 5, the waiting time to allow a full reset completion for the
"megaraid_sas" controller was too short. The driver incorrectly recognized
the controller as stalled, and, as a result, the system stalled as well.
With this update, more time is given to the controller to properly restart,
thus, the controller operates as expected after being reset. (BZ#667141)

Users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported
patches to correct these issues. The system must be rebooted for this
update to take effect.

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure all previously-released errata
relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via the Red Hat Network. Details on how to
use the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at
http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/docs/DOC-11259

To install kernel packages manually, use "rpm -ivh [package]". Do not
use "rpm -Uvh" as that will remove the running kernel binaries from
your system. You may use "rpm -e" to remove old kernels after
determining that the new kernel functions properly on your system.

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 5.6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 5.6 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 5.6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - AUS 5.6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - AUS 5.6 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - AUS 5.6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 5 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems - Extended Update Support 5.6 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 5 ppc
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian - Extended Update Support 5.6 ppc
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Update Support from RHUI 5.6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Update Support from RHUI 5.6 i386

Fixes

• BZ - 664914 - CVE-2010-4526 kernel: sctp: a race between ICMP protocol unreachable and connect()
• BZ - 666792 - fsck.gfs2 reported statfs error after gfs2_grow [rhel-5.6.z]
• BZ - 667050 - COW corruption using popen(3). [rhel-5.6.z]
• BZ - 667141 - [RHEL5.6] megaraid_sas stalls after driver is reset [rhel-5.6.z]

CVEs

• CVE-2010-4526

References

• https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#important