6.9 - RHSA-2015:0695

Problem Description:

Updated kernel packages that fix multiple security issues and two bugs are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.2 Advanced Update Support.

Red Hat Product Security has rated this update as having Important 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.

2. Relevant releases/architectures:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AUS (v. 6.2 server) - noarch, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional AUS (v. 6.2) - x86_64

3. Description:

The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux operating system.

* A flaw was found in the way the Linux kernel's SCTP implementation validated INIT chunks when performing Address Configuration Change (ASCONF). A remote attacker could use this flaw to crash the system by sending a specially crafted SCTP packet to trigger a NULL pointer dereference on the system. (CVE-2014-7841, Important)

* It was found that the Linux kernel's Infiniband subsystem did not properly sanitize input parameters while registering memory regions from user space via the (u)verbs API. A local user with access to a /dev/infiniband/uverbsX device could use this flaw to crash the system or, potentially, escalate their privileges on the system. (CVE-2014-8159, Important)

* An integer overflow flaw was found in the way the Linux kernel's Frame Buffer device implementation mapped kernel memory to user space via the mmap syscall. A local user able to access a frame buffer device file (/dev/fb*) could possibly use this flaw to escalate their privileges on the system. (CVE-2013-2596, Important)

* It was found that the parse_rock_ridge_inode_internal() function of the Linux kernel's ISOFS implementation did not correctly check relocated directories when processing Rock Ridge child link (CL) tags. An attacker with physical access to the system could use a specially crafted ISO image to crash the system or, potentially, escalate their privileges on the system. (CVE-2014-5471, CVE-2014-5472, Low)

Red Hat would like to thank Mellanox for reporting the CVE-2014-8159 issue. The CVE-2014-7841 issue was discovered by Liu Wei of Red Hat.

This update also fixes the following bugs:

* Previously, certain network device drivers did not accept ethtool commands right after they were loaded. As a consequence, the current setting of the specified device driver was not applied and an error message was returned. The ETHTOOL_DELAY variable has been added, which makes sure the ethtool utility waits for some time before it tries to apply the options settings, thus fixing the bug. (BZ#1138299)

* During the memory allocation for a new socket to communicate to the server, the rpciod daemon released a clean page which needed to be committed. However, the commit was queueing indefinitely as the commit could only be provided with a socket connection. As a consequence, a deadlock occurred in rpciod. This update sets the PF_FSTRANS flag on the work queue task prior to the socket allocation, and adds the nfs_release_page check for the flag when deciding whether to make a commit call, thus fixing this bug. (BZ#1192326)

All kernel users are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported patches to correct these issues. The system must be rebooted for this update to take effect.

4. Solution:

Before applying this update, make sure all previously released errata relevant to your system have been applied.

For details on how to apply this update, refer to:

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

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

1034490 - CVE-2013-2596 kernel: integer overflow in fb_mmap 1134099 - CVE-2014-5471 CVE-2014-5472 kernel: isofs: unbound recursion when processing relocated directories 1163087 - CVE-2014-7841 kernel: net: sctp: NULL pointer dereference in af->from_addr_param on malformed packet 1181166 - CVE-2014-8159 kernel: infiniband: uverbs: unprotected physical memory access