RHSA-2009:0021: Important: kernel security update

The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linuxoperating system.This update includes backported fixes for four security issues. Theseissues only affected users of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 Extended UpdateSupport as they have already been addressed for users of Red Hat EnterpriseLinux 5 in the 5.3 update, RHSA-2009:0225.In accordance with the support policy, future security updates to Red HatEnterprise Linux 5.2 Extended Update Support will only include issues ofcritical security impact. when fput() was called to close a socket, the scmdestroy() function in the Linux kernel could make indirect recursive calls to itself. Thiscould, potentially, lead to a denial of service issue. (CVE-2008-5029,Important) the sendmsg() function in the Linux kernel did not block during UNIX socket garbage collection. This could, potentially, lead to a local denialof service. (CVE-2008-5300, Important) a flaw was found in the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) subsystem. A local, unprivileged user could use the flaw to listen on the same socketmore than once, possibly causing a denial of service. (CVE-2008-5079,Important) a race condition was found in the Linux kernel "inotify" watch removal and umount implementation. This could allow a local, unprivileged userto cause a privilege escalation or a denial of service. (CVE-2008-5182,Important)Users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backportedpatches to correct these issues. Note: for this update to take effect, thesystem must be rebooted.