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Debian DSA-358-4 : linux-kernel-2.4.18 - several vulnerabilities

medium Nessus Plugin ID 15195

Synopsis

The remote Debian host is missing a security-related update.

Description

A number of vulnerabilities have been discovered in the Linux kernel.

 - CAN-2003-0461: /proc/tty/driver/serial in Linux 2.4.x reveals the exact number of characters used in serial links, which could allow local users to obtain potentially sensitive information such as the length of passwords. This bug has been fixed by restricting access to /proc/tty/driver/serial.
 - CAN-2003-0462: A race condition in the way env_start and env_end pointers are initialized in the execve system call and used in fs/proc/base.c on Linux 2.4 allows local users to cause a denial of service (crash).

 - CAN-2003-0476: The execve system call in Linux 2.4.x records the file descriptor of the executable process in the file table of the calling process, which allows local users to gain read access to restricted file descriptors.

 - CAN-2003-0501: The /proc filesystem in Linux allows local users to obtain sensitive information by opening various entries in /proc/self before executing a setuid program, which causes the program to fail to change the ownership and permissions of those entries.

 - CAN-2003-0550: The STP protocol, as enabled in Linux 2.4.x, does not provide sufficient security by design, which allows attackers to modify the bridge topology.
 This bug has been fixed by disabling STP by default.

 - CAN-2003-0551: The STP protocol, as enabled in Linux 2.4.x, does not provide sufficient security by design, which allows attackers to modify the bridge topology.

 - CAN-2003-0552: Linux 2.4.x allows remote attackers to spoof the bridge forwarding table via forged packets whose source addresses are the same as the target.

 - CAN-2003-0018: Linux kernel 2.4.10 through 2.4.21-pre4 does not properly handle the O_DIRECT feature, which allows local attackers with write privileges to read portions of previously deleted files, or cause file system corruption. This bug has been fixed by disabling O_DIRECT.

 - CAN-2003-0619: Integer signedness error in the decode_fh function of nfs3xdr.c in Linux kernel before 2.4.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (kernel panic) via a negative size value within XDR data of an NFSv3 procedure call.

This advisory covers only the i386 and alpha architectures. Other architectures will be covered by separate advisories.

Solution

For the stable distribution (woody) on the i386 architecture, these problems have been fixed in kernel-source-2.4.18 version 2.4.18-13, kernel-image-2.4.18-1-i386 version 2.4.18-11, and kernel-image-2.4.18-i386bf version 2.4.18-5woody4.

For the stable distribution (woody) on the alpha architecture, these problems have been fixed in kernel-source-2.4.18 version 2.4.18-13 and kernel-image-2.4.18-1-alpha version 2.4.18-10.

We recommend that you update your kernel packages.

If you are using the kernel installed by the installation system when the 'bf24' option is selected (for a 2.4.x kernel), you should install the kernel-image-2.4.18-bf2.4 package. If you installed a different kernel-image package after installation, you should install the corresponding 2.4.18-1 kernel. You may use the table below as a guide.

 | If 'uname -r' shows: | Install this package: | 2.4.18-bf2.4 | kernel-image-2.4.18-bf2.4 | 2.4.18-386 | kernel-image-2.4.18-1-386 | 2.4.18-586tsc | kernel-image-2.4.18-1-586tsc | 2.4.18-686 | kernel-image-2.4.18-1-686 | 2.4.18-686-smp | kernel-image-2.4.18-1-686-smp | 2.4.18-k6 | kernel-image-2.4.18-1-k6 | 2.4.18-k7 | kernel-image-2.4.18-1-k7

NOTE: This kernel is binary compatible with the previous kernel security update, but not binary compatible with the corresponding kernel included in Debian 3.0r1. If you have not already applied the previous security update (kernel-image-2.4.18-bf2.4 version 2.4.18-5woody1 or any of the 2.4.18-1-* kernels), then any custom modules will need to be rebuilt in order to work with the new kernel.
New PCMCIA modules are provided for all of the above kernels.

NOTE: A system reboot will be required immediately after the upgrade in order to replace the running kernel. Remember to read carefully and follow the instructions given during the kernel upgrade process.

See Also

http://www.debian.org/security/2003/dsa-358

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 15195

File Name: debian_DSA-358.nasl

Version: 1.26

Type: local

Agent: unix

Published: 9/29/2004

Updated: 1/4/2021

Supported Sensors: Agentless Assessment, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.7

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5

Temporal Score: 3.9

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:linux-kernel-alpha, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:linux-kernel-i386, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:3.0

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/Debian/release, Host/Debian/dpkg-l

Exploit Available: true

Exploit Ease: Exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 7/29/2003

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2003-0018, CVE-2003-0461, CVE-2003-0462, CVE-2003-0476, CVE-2003-0501, CVE-2003-0550, CVE-2003-0551, CVE-2003-0552, CVE-2003-0619, CVE-2003-0643

BID: 8042, 8233, 10330

DSA: 358