9.3 - RHSA-2015:0987

Problem Description:

Updated kernel packages that fix one security issue and several bugs are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.

Red Hat Product Security has rated this update as having Important 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 Client (v. 7) - noarch, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) - x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) - noarch, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) - x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) - noarch, ppc64, ppc64le, s390x, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) - ppc64, ppc64le, s390x, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) - noarch, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) - x86_64

3. Description:

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

* A buffer overflow flaw was found in the way the Linux kernel's Intel AES-NI instructions optimized version of the RFC4106 GCM mode decryption functionality handled fragmented packets. A remote attacker could use this flaw to crash, or potentially escalate their privileges on, a system over a connection with an active AEC-GCM mode IPSec security association. (CVE-2015-3331, Important)

This update also fixes the following bugs:

* Previously, the kernel audit subsystem did not correctly track file path names which could lead to empty, or "(null)" path names in the PATH audit records. This update fixes the bug by correctly tracking file path names and displaying the names in the audit PATH records. (BZ#1197746)

* Due to a change in the internal representation of field types, AUDIT_LOGINUID set to -1 (4294967295) by the audit API was asymmetrically converted to an AUDIT_LOGINUID_SET field with a value of 0, unrecognized by an older audit API. To fix this bug, the kernel takes note about the way the rule has been formulated and reports the rule in the originally given form. As a result, older versions of audit provide a report as expected, in the AUDIT_LOGINUID field type form, whereas the newer versions can migrate to the new AUDIT_LOGINUID_SET filed type. (BZ#1197748)

* The GFS2 file system "Splice Read" operation, which is used for the sendfile() function, was not properly allocating a required multi-block reservation structure in memory. Consequently, when the GFS2 block allocator was called to assign blocks of data, it attempted to dereference the structure, which resulted in a kernel panic. With this update, "Splice read" operation properly allocates the necessary reservation structure in memory prior to calling the block allocator, and sendfile() thus works properly for GFS2. (BZ#1201256)

* Moving an Open vSwitch (OVS) internal vport to a different net name space and subsequently deleting that name space led to a kernel panic. This bug has been fixed by removing the OVS internal vport at net name space deletion. (BZ#1202357)

* Previously, the kernel audit subsystem was not correctly handling file and directory moves, leading to audit records that did not match the audit file watches. This fix correctly handles moves such that the audit file watches work correctly. (BZ#1202358)

* Due to a regression, the crypto adapter could not be set online. A patch has been provided that fixes the device registration process so that the device can be used also before the registration process is completed, thus fixing this bug. (BZ#1205300)

* Due to incorrect calculation for entropy during the entropy addition, the amount of entropy in the /dev/random file could be overestimated. The formula for the entropy addition has been changed, thus fixing this bug. (BZ#1211288)

* Previously, the ansi_cprng and drbg utilities did not obey the call convention and returned the positive value on success instead of the correct value of zero. Consequently, Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) terminated unexpectedly when ansi_cprng or drbg were used. With this update, ansi_cprng and drbg have been changed to return zero on success, and IPsec now functions correctly. (BZ#1211487)

* Due to a failure to clear the timestamp flag when reusing a tx descriptor in the mlx4_en driver, programs that did not request a hardware timestamp packet on their sent data received it anyway, resulting in unexpected behavior in certain applications. With this update, when reusing the tx descriptor in the mlx4_en driver in the aforementioned situation, the hardware timestamp flag is cleared, and applications now behave as expected. (BZ#1209240)

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/):

1213322 - CVE-2015-3331 Kernel: crypto: buffer overruns in RFC4106 implementation using AESNI