7.2 - RHSA-2005:472

Problem Description:

Updated kernel packages that fix several security issues in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 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 3 - i386, ia64, ppc, s390, s390x, x86_64 Red Hat Desktop version 3 - i386, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 3 - i386, ia64, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 3 - i386, ia64, x86_64

3. Problem description:

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

These new kernel packages contain fixes for the three security issues described below as well as an important fix for a problem that could lead to data corruption on x86-architecture SMP systems with greater than 4GB of memory through heavy usage of multi-threaded applications.

A flaw between execve() syscall handling and core dumping of ELF-format executables allowed local unprivileged users to cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly gain privileges. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project has assigned the name CAN-2005-1263 to this issue.

A flaw in shared memory locking allowed local unprivileged users to lock and unlock regions of shared memory segments they did not own (CAN-2005-0176).

A flaw in the locking of SysV IPC shared memory regions allowed local unprivileged users to bypass their RLIMIT_MEMLOCK resource limit (CAN-2004-0491).

Note: The kernel-unsupported package contains various drivers and modules that are unsupported and therefore might contain security problems that have not been addressed.

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.

Please also consult the RHEL3 Update 5 advisory RHSA-2005:294 for the complete list of features added and bugs fixed in U5, which was released only a week prior to this security update.

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/):

126411 - CAN-2004-0491 mlock accounting issue 141394 - Memory corruption with kernel 2.4.21-27.EL 141905 - kernel 2.4.21-25.ELsmp panic (kscand) 142802 - CAN-2005-0176 unlock someone elses ipc memory 149087 - Kernel panic regression in 2.4.21-27.0.2.ELsmp 157451 - CAN-2005-1263 Linux kernel ELF core dump crash vulnerability