RHSA-2008:0585: Important: kernel security and bug fix update

The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linuxoperating system.These updated packages fix the following security issues: the possibility of a timeout value overflow was found in the Linux kernel high-resolution timers functionality, hrtimer. This could allow a localunprivileged user to execute arbitrary code, or cause a denial of service(kernel panic). (CVE-2007-5966, Important) the possibility of a kernel crash was found in the Linux kernel IPsec protocol implementation, due to improper handling of fragmented ESPpackets. When an attacker controlling an intermediate router fragmentedthese packets into very small pieces, it would cause a kernel crash on thereceiving node during packet reassembly. (CVE-2007-6282, Important) on 64-bit architectures, the possibility of a timer-expiration value overflow was found in the Linux kernel high-resolution timersfunctionality, hrtimer. This could allow a local unprivileged user to setup a large interval value, forcing the timer expiry value to becomenegative, causing a denial of service (kernel hang). (CVE-2007-6712, Important) on AMD64 architectures, the possibility of a kernel crash was discovered by testing the Linux kernel process-trace ability. This could allow a localunprivileged user to cause a denial of service (kernel crash).(CVE-2008-1615, Important) a possible kernel memory leak was found in the Linux kernel Simple Internet Transition (SIT) INET6 implementation. This could allow a localunprivileged user to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2008-2136, Important) a flaw was found in the Linux kernel utimensat system call. File permissions were not checked when UTIMENOW and UTIMEOMIT combinationswere used. This could allow a local unprivileged user to modify file timesof arbitrary files, possibly leading to a denial of service.(CVE-2008-2148, Important) a security flaw was found in the Linux kernel memory copy routines, when running on certain AMD64 architectures. If an unsuccessful attempt to copykernel memory from source to destination memory locations occurred, thecopy routines did not zero the content at the destination memory location.This could allow a local unprivileged user to view potentially sensitivedata. (CVE-2008-2729, Important) Gabriel Campana discovered a possible integer overflow flaw in the Linux kernel Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) implementation. Thisdeficiency could lead to privilege escalation. (CVE-2008-2826, Important) a deficiency was found in the Linux kernel virtual memory implementation. This could allow a local unprivileged user to make a large number of callsto the getuserpages function, possibly causing a denial of service.(CVE-2008-2372, Low)Also, these updated packages fix the following bugs: gdb set origrax to 0x00000000ffffffff, which is recognized by the upstream kernel as "-1", but not by the Red Hat Enterprise MRG kernel. if the POSIX timer was programmed to fire immediately, the timer's signal was sometimes not delivered (timer does not fire). rwlock caused crashes and application hangs. running oprofile caused system panics. threads releasing a mutex may have received an EPERM error. booting the RT kernel with the "nmiwatchdog=2" kernel option caused a kernel panic, and an "Unable to handle kernel paging request" error. "echo 0 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu1/online" caused crashes. a crash on a JTC machine. added a new "FUTEXWAITBITSET" system call, identical to FUTEXWAIT, that accepts absolute time as a timeout.Red Hat Enterprise MRG 1.0 users are advised to upgrade to these updatedpackages, which contain backported patches to resolve these issues.