6.9 - RHSA-2005:043

Problem Description:

Updated kernel packages that fix several security issues in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 are now available.

2. Relevant releases/architectures:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS version 3 - athlon, i386, i686, ia32e, ia64, ppc64, ppc64iseries, ppc64pseries, s390, s390x, x86_64 Red Hat Desktop version 3 - athlon, i386, i686, ia32e, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 3 - athlon, i386, i686, ia32e, ia64, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 3 - athlon, i386, i686, ia32e, ia64, x86_64

3. Problem description:

The Linux kernel handles the basic functions of the operating system.

This advisory includes fixes for several security issues:

iSEC Security Research discovered a VMA handling flaw in the uselib(2) system call of the Linux kernel. A local user could make use of this flaw to gain elevated (root) privileges. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2004-1235 to this issue.

A flaw was discovered where an executable could cause a VMA overlap leading to a crash. A local user could trigger this flaw by creating a carefully crafted a.out binary on 32-bit systems or a carefully crafted ELF binary on Itanium systems. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2005-0003 to this issue.

iSEC Security Research discovered a flaw in the page fault handler code that could lead to local users gaining elevated (root) privileges on multiprocessor machines. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2005-0001 to this issue. A patch that coincidentally fixed this issue was committed to the Update 4 kernel release in December 2004. Therefore Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 kernels provided by RHBA-2004:550 and subsequent updates are not vulnerable to this issue.

A flaw in the system call filtering code in the audit subsystem included in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 allowed a local user to cause a crash when auditing was enabled. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2004-1237 to this issue.

Olaf Kirch discovered that the recent security fixes for cmsg_len handling (CAN-2004-1016) broke 32-bit compatibility on 64-bit platforms such as AMD64 and Intel EM64T. A patch to correct this issue is included.

A recent Internet Draft by Fernando Gont recommended that ICMP Source Quench messages be ignored by hosts. A patch to ignore these messages is included.

Note: The kernel-unsupported package contains various drivers and modules that are unsupported and therefore might contain security problems that have not been addressed.

All Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 users are advised to upgrade their kernels to the packages associated with their machine architectures and configurations as listed in this erratum.

4. Solution:

Before applying this update, make sure that all previously-released errata relevant to your system have been applied. Use Red Hat Network to download and update your packages. To launch the Red Hat Update Agent, use the following command:

up2date

For information on how to install packages manually, refer to the following Web page for the System Administration or Customization guide specific to your system:

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/

5. Bug IDs fixed (http://bugzilla.redhat.com/):

132245 - CAN-2004-1237 Kernel panic when stopping Lotus Domino 6.52 141996 - CAN-2004-1237 instant kernel panic from one line perl program - BAD 142091 - CAN-2004-1237 kernel oops captured, system hangs 142442 - CAN-2004-1237 kernel panic ( __audit_get_target) 143866 - CAN-2004-1237 kernel panic caused by auditd 144029 - LTC13264-Kernel errata from Dec 23 results in a DB2 shutdown. 144048 - CAN-2004-1237 kernel panic when Oracle agentctl is run 144134 - CAN-2004-1235 isec.pl uselib() privilege escalation 144784 - CAN-2005-0003 huge vma-in-executable bug