RHSA-2013:1034 - Security Advisory

Topic

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

The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having low
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:

• Information leaks in the Linux kernel could allow a local, unprivileged

user to leak kernel memory to user-space. (CVE-2012-6544, CVE-2012-6545,
CVE-2013-3222, CVE-2013-3224, CVE-2013-3231, CVE-2013-3235, Low)

• An information leak was found in the Linux kernel's POSIX signals

implementation. A local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to bypass
the Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) security feature.
(CVE-2013-0914, Low)

• A heap-based buffer overflow in the way the tg3 Ethernet driver parsed

the vital product data (VPD) of devices could allow an attacker with
physical access to a system to cause a denial of service or, potentially,
escalate their privileges. (CVE-2013-1929, Low)

This update also fixes the following bugs:

• Previously on system boot, devices with associated Reserved Memory Region

Reporting (RMRR) information had lost their RMRR information after they
were removed from the static identity (SI) domain. Consequently, a system
unexpectedly terminated in an endless loop due to unexpected NMIs triggered
by DMA errors. This problem was observed on HP ProLiant Generation 7 (G7)
and 8 (Gen8) systems. This update prevents non-USB devices that have RMRR
information associated with them from being placed into the SI domain
during system boot. HP ProLiant G7 and Gen8 systems that contain devices
with the RMRR information now boot as expected. (BZ#957606)

• Previously, the kernel's futex wait code used timeouts that had

granularity in milliseconds. Also, when passing these timeouts to system
calls, the kernel converted the timeouts to "jiffies". Consequently,
programs could time out inaccurately which could lead to significant
latency problems in certain environments. This update modifies the futex
wait code to use a high-resolution timer (hrtimer) so the timeout
granularity is now in microseconds. Timeouts are no longer converted to
"jiffies" when passed to system calls. Timeouts passed to programs are now
accurate and the programs time out as expected. (BZ#958021)

• A recent change modified the size of the task_struct structure in the

floating point unit (fpu) counter. However, on Intel Itanium systems, this
change caused the kernel Application Binary Interface (kABI) to stop
working properly when a previously compiled module was loaded, resulting in
a kernel panic. With this update the change causing this bug has been
reverted so the bug can no longer occur. (BZ#966878)

• The cxgb4 driver previously did not clear data structures used for

firmware requests. Consequently, when initializing some Chelsio's
Terminator 4 (T4) adapters, a probe request could fail because the request
was incompatible with the adapter's firmware. This update modifies the
cxgb4 driver to properly initialize firmware request structures before
sending a request to the firmware and the problem no longer occurs.
(BZ#971872)

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
https://access.redhat.com/knowledge/articles/11258

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 5.9 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 5.9 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 5.9 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - AUS 5.9 ia64
• 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 5.9 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 5 ppc
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian - Extended Update Support 5.9 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 - AUS 5.9 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - AUS 5.9 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Update Support from RHUI 5.9 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Update Support from RHUI 5.9 i386

Fixes

• BZ - 920499 - CVE-2013-0914 Kernel: sa_restorer information leak
• BZ - 922404 - CVE-2012-6545 Kernel: Bluetooth: RFCOMM - information leak
• BZ - 922414 - CVE-2012-6544 Kernel: Bluetooth: HCI & L2CAP information leaks
• BZ - 949932 - CVE-2013-1929 Kernel: tg3: buffer overflow in VPD firmware parsing
• BZ - 955216 - CVE-2013-3222 Kernel: atm: update msg_namelen in vcc_recvmsg()
• BZ - 955599 - CVE-2013-3224 Kernel: Bluetooth: possible info leak in bt_sock_recvmsg()
• BZ - 956094 - CVE-2013-3231 Kernel: llc: Fix missing msg_namelen update in llc_ui_recvmsg
• BZ - 956145 - CVE-2013-3235 Kernel: tipc: info leaks via msg_name in recv_msg/recv_stream

CVEs

• CVE-2013-1929
• CVE-2013-3231
• CVE-2013-3224
• CVE-2013-3222
• CVE-2013-0914
• CVE-2012-6545
• CVE-2012-6544
• CVE-2013-3235

References

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