RHSA-2011:0017: Important: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6 kernel security and bug fix update

First published: Thu Jan 13 2011(Updated: )

The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux<br>operating system.<br>This update fixes the following security issues:<br><li> A NULL pointer dereference flaw was found in the igb driver in the Linux</li> kernel. If both the Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) feature and<br>promiscuous mode were enabled on an interface using igb, it could result in<br>a denial of service when a tagged VLAN packet is received on that<br>interface. (CVE-2010-4263, Important)<br><li> A missing sanity check was found in vbd_create() in the Xen hypervisor</li> implementation. As CD-ROM drives are not supported by the blkback back-end<br>driver, attempting to use a virtual CD-ROM drive with blkback could trigger<br>a denial of service (crash) on the host system running the Xen hypervisor.<br>(CVE-2010-4238, Moderate)<br><li> A flaw was found in the Linux kernel execve() system call implementation.</li> A local, unprivileged user could cause large amounts of memory to be<br>allocated but not visible to the OOM (Out of Memory) killer, triggering a<br>denial of service. (CVE-2010-4243, Moderate)<br><li> A flaw was found in fixup_page_fault() in the Xen hypervisor</li> implementation. If a 64-bit para-virtualized guest accessed a certain area<br>of memory, it could cause a denial of service on the host system running<br>the Xen hypervisor. (CVE-2010-4255, Moderate)<br><li> A missing initialization flaw was found in the bfa driver used by Brocade</li> Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapters. A local, unprivileged user could use this<br>flaw to cause a denial of service by reading a file in the<br>"/sys/class/fc_host/host#/statistics/" directory. (CVE-2010-4343, Moderate)<br><li> Missing initialization flaws in the Linux kernel could lead to</li> information leaks. (CVE-2010-3296, CVE-2010-3877, CVE-2010-4072,<br>CVE-2010-4073, CVE-2010-4075, CVE-2010-4080, CVE-2010-4081, CVE-2010-4158,<br>Low)<br>Red Hat would like to thank Kosuke Tatsukawa for reporting CVE-2010-4263;<br>Vladymyr Denysov for reporting CVE-2010-4238; Brad Spengler for reporting<br>CVE-2010-4243; Dan Rosenberg for reporting CVE-2010-3296, CVE-2010-4073,<br>CVE-2010-4075, CVE-2010-4080, CVE-2010-4081, and CVE-2010-4158; Vasiliy<br>Kulikov for reporting CVE-2010-3877; and Kees Cook for reporting<br>CVE-2010-4072.<br>These updated packages also include several hundred bug fixes for and<br>enhancements to the Linux kernel. Space precludes documenting each of these<br>changes in this advisory and users are directed to the Red Hat Enterprise<br>Linux 5.6 Release Notes for information on the most significant of these<br>changes:<br><a href="http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5/html/5.6_Release_Notes/index.html" target="_blank">http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5/html/5.6_Release_Notes/index.html</a> Refer to the kernel chapter in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6 Technical<br>Notes for further information:<br><a href="http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5/html/5.6_Technical_Notes/kernel.html" target="_blank">http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5/html/5.6_Technical_Notes/kernel.html</a> All Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 users are advised to install these updated<br>packages, which address these vulnerabilities as well as fixing the bugs<br>and adding the enhancements noted in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6<br>Release Notes and Technical Notes. The system must be rebooted for this<br>update to take effect.<br>

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