2.1 - RHSA-2012:0796

Problem Description:

Updated rsyslog packages that fix one security issue, multiple bugs, and add two enhancements are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having moderate 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.

2. Relevant releases/architectures:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) - i386, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) - i386, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) - x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) - x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) - i386, ppc64, s390x, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) - i386, ppc64, s390x, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) - i386, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) - i386, x86_64

3. Description:

The rsyslog packages provide an enhanced, multi-threaded syslog daemon.

A numeric truncation error, leading to a heap-based buffer overflow, was found in the way the rsyslog imfile module processed text files containing long lines. An attacker could use this flaw to crash the rsyslogd daemon or, possibly, execute arbitrary code with the privileges of rsyslogd, if they are able to cause a long line to be written to a log file that rsyslogd monitors with imfile. The imfile module is not enabled by default. (CVE-2011-4623)

Bug fixes:

* Several variables were incorrectly deinitialized with Transport Layer Security (TLS) transport and keys in PKCS#8 format. The rsyslogd daemon aborted with a segmentation fault when keys in this format were provided. Now, the variables are correctly deinitialized. (BZ#727380)

* Previously, the imgssapi plug-in initialization was incomplete. As a result, the rsyslogd daemon aborted when configured to provide a GSSAPI listener. Now, the plug-in is correctly initialized. (BZ#756664)

* The fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the localhost used in messages was the first alias found. This did not always produce the expected result on multihomed hosts. With this update, the algorithm uses the alias that corresponds to the hostname. (BZ#767527)

* The gtls module leaked a file descriptor every time it was loaded due to an error in the GnuTLS library. No new files or network connections could be opened when the limit for the file descriptor count was reached. This update modifies the gtls module so that it is not unloaded during the process lifetime. (BZ#803550)

* rsyslog could not override the hostname to set an alternative hostname for locally generated messages. Now, the local hostname can be overridden. (BZ#805424)

* The rsyslogd init script did not pass the lock file path to the 'status' action. As a result, the lock file was ignored and a wrong exit code was returned. This update modifies the init script to pass the lock file to the 'status' action. Now, the correct exit code is returned. (BZ#807608)

* Data could be incorrectly deinitialized when rsyslogd was supplied with malformed spool files. The rsyslogd daemon could be aborted with a segmentation fault. This update modifies the underlying code to correctly deinitialize the data. (BZ#813079)

* Previously, deinitialization of non-existent data could, in certain error cases, occur. As a result, rsyslogd could abort with a segmentation fault when rsyslog was configured to use a disk assisted queue without specifying a spool file. With this update, the error cases are handled gracefully. (BZ#813084)

* The manual page wrongly stated that the '-d' option to turn on debugging caused the daemon to run in the foreground, which was misleading as the current behavior is to run in the background. Now, the manual page reflects the correct behavior. (BZ#820311)

* rsyslog attempted to write debugging messages to standard output even when run in the background. This resulted in the debugging information being written to some other output. This was corrected and the debug messages are no longer written to standard output when run in the background. (BZ#820996)

* The string buffer to hold the distinguished name (DN) of a certificate was too small. DNs with more than 128 characters were not displayed. This update enlarges the buffer to process longer DNs. (BZ#822118)

Enhancements:

* Support for rate limiting and multi-line message capability. Now, rsyslogd can limit the number of messages it accepts through a UNIX socket. (BZ#672182)

* The addition of the "/etc/rsyslog.d/" configuration directory to supply syslog configuration files. (BZ#740420)

All users of rsyslog are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which upgrade rsyslog to version 5.8.10 and correct these issues and add these enhancements. After installing this update, the rsyslog daemon will be restarted automatically.

4. 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

5. Bugs fixed (http://bugzilla.redhat.com/):

740420 - Add a /etc/rsyslog.d config directory 769822 - CVE-2011-4623 rsyslog: DoS due integer signedness error while extending rsyslog counted string buffer 803550 - rsyslog fails to initialize gtls driver because of too many open files 813079 - rsyslog segfaults attempting to read a malformed / old format spool file 813084 - rsyslog segfaults when configured with disk queue with non-existent (unnamed) spool file 820311 - Manpage: rsyslogd does the fork in debug mode while manpage says otherwise 820996 - rsyslog writes debug messages to fd 1 even after forking