RHSA-2011:0303 - Security Advisory

Topic

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

The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having moderate
security impact. Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base scores,
which give detailed severity ratings, are available for each vulnerability
from the CVE links 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 issues:

• A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's garbage collector for AF_UNIX

sockets. A local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to trigger a
denial of service (out-of-memory condition). (CVE-2010-4249, Moderate)

• A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's networking subsystem. If the

number of packets received exceeded the receiver's buffer limit, they were
queued in a backlog, consuming memory, instead of being discarded. A remote
attacker could abuse this flaw to cause a denial of service (out-of-memory
condition). (CVE-2010-4251, Moderate)

• A missing initialization flaw was found in the ethtool_get_regs()

function in the Linux kernel's ethtool IOCTL handler. A local user who has
the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability could use this flaw to cause an information
leak. (CVE-2010-4655, Low)

Red Hat would like to thank Vegard Nossum for reporting CVE-2010-4249, and
Kees Cook for reporting CVE-2010-4655.

This update also fixes several bugs. Documentation for these bug fixes will
be available shortly from the Technical Notes document linked to in the
References section.

Users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported
patches to correct these issues, and fix the bugs noted in the Technical
Notes. 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
https://access.redhat.com/kb/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 - 656756 - CVE-2010-4249 kernel: unix socket local dos
• BZ - 657303 - CVE-2010-4251 kernel: multicast IPv4 traffic on hipersockets device DoS
• BZ - 668976 - a test unit ready causes a panic on 5.6 (CCISS driver) [rhel-5.6.z]
• BZ - 669300 - Fix shrinking windows with window scaling [rhel-5.6.z]
• BZ - 670797 - panic in kfree() due to race condition in acpi_bus_receive_event() [rhel-5.6.z]
• BZ - 670807 - e1000 driver tracebacks when running under VMware ESX4 [rhel-5.6.z]
• BZ - 672428 - CVE-2010-4655 kernel: heap contents leak for CAP_NET_ADMIN via ethtool ioctl
• BZ - 673983 - virtio_console driver never returns from selecting for write when the queue is full [rhel-5.6.z]
• BZ - 674273 - Flapping errors (and panic) with bonding and arp_interval while using be2net included in 2.6.18-238 [rhel-5.6.z]
• BZ - 678613 - vdso gettimeofday causes a segmentation fault [rhel-5.6.z]

CVEs

• CVE-2010-4249
• CVE-2010-4655
• CVE-2010-4251
• CVE-2010-4805

References

• https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#moderate
• http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5/html/5.6_Technical_Notes/kernel.html#RHSA-2011-0303