Scientific Linux Security Update : kernel on SL6.x i386/x86_64 (20120710)

high Nessus Plugin ID 61361

Synopsis

The remote Scientific Linux host is missing one or more security updates.

Description

The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux operating system.

This update fixes the following security issues :

- A NULL pointer dereference flaw was found in the nf_ct_frag6_reasm() function in the Linux kernel's netfilter IPv6 connection tracking implementation. A remote attacker could use this flaw to send specially crafted packets to a target system that is using IPv6 and also has the nf_conntrack_ipv6 kernel module loaded, causing it to crash. (CVE-2012-2744, Important)

- A flaw was found in the way the Linux kernel's key management facility handled replacement session keyrings on process forks. A local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2012-2745, Moderate)

This update also fixes the following bugs :

- Previously introduced firmware files required for new Realtek chipsets contained an invalid prefix ('rtl_nic_') in the file names, for example '/lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl_nic_rtl8168d-1.fw'. This update corrects these file names. For example, the aforementioned file is now correctly named '/lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168d-1.fw'.

- This update blacklists the ADMA428M revision of the 2GB ATA Flash Disk device. This is due to data corruption occurring on the said device when the Ultra-DMA 66 transfer mode is used. When the 'libata.force=5:pio0,6:pio0' kernel parameter is set, the aforementioned device works as expected.

- On Scientific Linux 6, mounting an NFS export from a server running Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate returned the NFS4ERR_MINOR_VERS_MISMATCH error because Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate supports NFSv4.1 only. Scientific Linux 6 did not properly handle the returned error and did not fall back to using NFSv3, which caused the mount operation to fail. With this update, when the NFS4ERR_MINOR_VERS_MISMATCH error is returned, the mount operation properly falls back to using NFSv3 and no longer fails.

- On ext4 file systems, when fallocate() failed to allocate blocks due to the ENOSPC condition (no space left on device) for a file larger than 4 GB, the size of the file became corrupted and, consequently, caused file system corruption. This was due to a missing cast operator in the 'ext4_fallocate()' function. With this update, the underlying source code has been modified to address this issue, and file system corruption no longer occurs.

Users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported patches to correct these issues. The system must be rebooted for this update to take effect.

Solution

Update the affected packages.

See Also

http://www.nessus.org/u?df0387d3

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 61361

File Name: sl_20120710_kernel_on_SL6_x.nasl

Version: 1.8

Type: local

Agent: unix

Published: 8/1/2012

Updated: 1/14/2021

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.4

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.8

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:python-perf-debuginfo, x-cpe:/o:fermilab:scientific_linux, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:kernel, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:kernel-debug, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:kernel-debug-debuginfo, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:kernel-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:kernel-debuginfo, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:kernel-debuginfo-common-i686, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:kernel-devel, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:kernel-doc, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:kernel-firmware, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:kernel-headers, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:perf, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:perf-debuginfo, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:python-perf

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/RedHat/release, Host/RedHat/rpm-list, Host/cpu

Patch Publication Date: 7/10/2012

Vulnerability Publication Date: 8/9/2012

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2012-2744, CVE-2012-2745