7.2 - RHSA-2004:413

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 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.

Paul Starzetz discovered flaws in the Linux kernel when handling file offset pointers. These consist of invalid conversions of 64 to 32-bit file offset pointers and possible race conditions. A local unprivileged user could make use of these flaws to access large portions of kernel memory. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2004-0415 to this issue.

These packages contain a patch written by Al Viro to correct these flaws. Red Hat would like to thank iSEC Security Research for disclosing this issue and a number of vendor-sec participants for reviewing and working on the patch to this issue.

In addition, these packages correct a number of minor security issues:

An bug in the e1000 network driver. This bug could be used by local users to leak small amounts of kernel memory (CAN-2004-0535).

A bug in the SoundBlaster 16 code which does not properly handle certain sample sizes. This flaw could be used by local users to crash a system (CAN-2004-0178).

A possible NULL-pointer dereference in the Linux kernel prior to 2.4.26 on the Itanium platform could allow a local user to crash a system (CAN-2004-0447).

Inappropriate permissions on /proc/scsi/qla2300/HbaApiNode (CAN-2004-0587).

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/ for more info):

120527 - CAN-2004-0447 [PATCH] IPF kernel crashes under gdb 121045 - CAN-2004-0178 Soundblaster 16 local DoS 125168 - CAN-2004-0535 e1000 kernel memory information leak 126396 - CAN-2004-0587 Bad permissions on qla* drivers