RHSA-2010:0124: Important: systemtap security update

SystemTap is an instrumentation system for systems running the Linuxkernel, version 2.6. Developers can write scripts to collect data on theoperation of the system.A flaw was found in the SystemTap compile server, stap-server, an optionalcomponent of SystemTap. This server did not adequately sanitize inputprovided by the stap-client program, which may allow a remote user toexecute arbitrary shell code with the privileges of the compile serverprocess, which could possibly be running as the root user. (CVE-2009-4273)Note: stap-server is not run by default. It must be started by a user oradministrator.A buffer overflow flaw was found in SystemTap's tapset getargv()function. If a privileged user ran a SystemTap script that called thisfunction, a local, unprivileged user could, while that script is stillrunning, trigger this flaw and cause memory corruption by running a commandwith a large argument list, which may lead to a system crash or,potentially, arbitrary code execution with root privileges. (CVE-2010-0411)Note: SystemTap scripts that call getargv(), being a privilegedfunction, can only be executed by the root user or users in the stapdevgroup. As well, if such a script was compiled and installed by root, usersin the stapusr group would also be able to execute it.SystemTap users should upgrade to these updated packages, which containbackported patches to correct these issues.