7.8 - RHSA-2006:0617

Problem Description:

Updated kernel packages that fix several security issues in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 kernel are now available.

This security advisory has been rated as having important security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team.

2. Relevant releases/architectures:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS version 4 - i386, ia64, noarch, ppc, s390, s390x, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop version 4 - i386, noarch, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 4 - i386, ia64, noarch, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 4 - i386, ia64, noarch, x86_64

3. Problem description:

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

These new kernel packages contain fixes for the security issues described below:

* a flaw in the proc file system that allowed a local user to use a suid-wrapper for scripts to gain root privileges (CVE-2006-3626, Important)

* a flaw in the SCTP implementation that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service (panic) or to possibly gain root privileges (CVE-2006-3745, Important)

* a flaw in NFS exported ext2/ext3 partitions when handling invalid inodes that allowed a remote authenticated user to cause a denial of service (filesystem panic) (CVE-2006-3468, Important)

* a flaw in the restore_all code path of the 4/4GB split support of non-hugemem kernels that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service (panic) (CVE-2006-2932, Important)

* a flaw in IPv4 netfilter handling for the unlikely use of SNMP NAT processing that allowed a remote user to cause a denial of service (crash) or potential memory corruption (CVE-2006-2444, Moderate)

* a flaw in the DVD handling of the CDROM driver that could be used together with a custom built USB device to gain root privileges (CVE-2006-2935, Moderate)

* a flaw in the handling of O_DIRECT writes that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) (CVE-2004-2660, Low)

* a flaw in the SCTP chunk length handling that allowed a remote user to cause a denial of service (crash) (CVE-2006-1858, Low)

* a flaw in the input handling of the ftdi_sio driver that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) (CVE-2006-2936, Low)

In addition a bugfix was added to enable a clean reboot for the IBM Pizzaro machines.

Red Hat would like to thank Wei Wang of McAfee Avert Labs and Kirill Korotaev for reporting issues fixed in this erratum.

All Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 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 all previously released errata relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via Red Hat Network. To use Red Hat Network, launch the Red Hat Update Agent with the following command:

up2date

This will start an interactive process that will result in the appropriate RPMs being upgraded on your system.

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

191736 - CVE-2004-2660 O_DIRECT write sometimes leaks memory 192632 - CVE-2006-2444 SNMP NAT netfilter memory corruption 192636 - CVE-2006-1858 SCTP chunk length overflow 196280 - CVE-2006-2932 bogus %ds/%es security issue in restore_all 197610 - CVE-2006-2936 Possible DoS in write routine of ftdi_sio driver 197670 - CVE-2006-2935 Possible buffer overflow in DVD handling 198973 - CVE-2006-3626 Nasty /proc privilege escalation 199172 - CVE-2006-3468 Bogus FH in NFS request causes DoS in file system code 200111 - Can't reboot/halt on IBM Pizzaro machine 202122 - CVE-2006-3745 Local SCTP privilege escalation