Updated kernel packages that fix multiple security issues, several bugs, and add three enhancements are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.

The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having important security impact. Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base scores, which give detailed severity ratings, are available for each vulnerability from the CVE links in the References section.

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

Security fixes :

* RHSA-2009:1024 introduced a flaw in the ptrace implementation on Itanium systems. ptrace_check_attach() was not called during certain ptrace() requests. Under certain circumstances, a local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to call ptrace() on a process they do not own, giving them control over that process. (CVE-2010-0729, Important)

* a flaw was found in the kernel's Unidirectional Lightweight Encapsulation (ULE) implementation. A remote attacker could send a specially crafted ISO MPEG-2 Transport Stream (TS) frame to a target system, resulting in a denial of service. (CVE-2010-1086, Important)

* a use-after-free flaw was found in tcp_rcv_state_process() in the kernel's TCP/IP protocol suite implementation. If a system using IPv6 had the IPV6_RECVPKTINFO option set on a listening socket, a remote attacker could send an IPv6 packet to that system, causing a kernel panic. (CVE-2010-1188, Important)

* a divide-by-zero flaw was found in azx_position_ok() in the Intel High Definition Audio driver, snd-hda-intel. A local, unprivileged user could trigger this flaw to cause a denial of service.
(CVE-2010-1085, Moderate)

* an information leak flaw was found in the kernel's USB implementation. Certain USB errors could result in an uninitialized kernel buffer being sent to user-space. An attacker with physical access to a target system could use this flaw to cause an information leak. (CVE-2010-1083, Low)

Red Hat would like to thank Ang Way Chuang for reporting CVE-2010-1086.

Bug fixes :

* a regression prevented the Broadcom BCM5761 network device from working when in the first (top) PCI-E slot of Hewlett-Packard (HP) Z600 systems. Note: The card worked in the 2nd or 3rd PCI-E slot.
(BZ#567205)

* the Xen hypervisor supports 168 GB of RAM for 32-bit guests. The physical address range was set incorrectly, however, causing 32-bit, para-virtualized Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.8 guests to crash when launched on AMD64 or Intel 64 hosts that have more than 64 GB of RAM.
(BZ#574392)

* RHSA-2009:1024 introduced a regression, causing diskdump to fail on systems with certain adapters using the qla2xxx driver. (BZ#577234)

* a race condition caused TX to stop in a guest using the virtio_net driver. (BZ#580089)

* on some systems, using the 'arp_validate=3' bonding option caused both links to show as 'down' even though the arp_target was responding to ARP requests sent by the bonding driver. (BZ#580842)

* in some circumstances, when a Red Hat Enterprise Linux client connected to a re-booted Windows-based NFS server, server-side filehandle-to-inode mapping changes caused a kernel panic.
'bad_inode_ops' handling was changed to prevent this. Note:
filehandle-to-inode mapping changes may still cause errors, but not panics. (BZ#582908)

* when installing a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 guest via PXE, hard-coded fixed-size scatterlists could conflict with host requests, causing the guest's kernel to panic. With this update, dynamically allocated scatterlists are used, resolving this issue. (BZ#582911)

Enhancements :

* kernel support for connlimit. Note: iptables errata update RHBA-2010:0395 is also required for connlimit to work correctly.
(BZ#563223)

* support for the Intel architectural performance monitoring subsystem (arch_perfmon). On supported CPUs, arch_perfmon offers means to mark performance events and options for configuring and counting these events. (BZ#582913)

* kernel support for OProfile sampling of Intel microarchitecture (Nehalem) CPUs. This update alone does not address OProfile support for such CPUs. A future oprofile package update will allow OProfile to work on Intel Nehalem CPUs. (BZ#582241)

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

Updated kernel packages that fix three security issues, address several hundred bugs, and add numerous enhancements are now available as part of the ongoing support and maintenance of Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 5. This is the fifth regular update.

The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having important security impact. Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base scores, which give detailed severity ratings, are available for each vulnerability from the CVE links in the References section.

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

This update fixes the following security issues :

* a race condition was found in the mac80211 implementation, a framework used for writing drivers for wireless devices. An attacker could trigger this flaw by sending a Delete Block ACK (DELBA) packet to a target system, resulting in a remote denial of service. Note:
This issue only affected users on 802.11n networks, and that also use the iwlagn driver with Intel wireless hardware. (CVE-2009-4027, Important)

* a flaw was found in the gfs2_lock() implementation. The GFS2 locking code could skip the lock operation for files that have the S_ISGID bit (set-group-ID on execution) in their mode set. A local, unprivileged user on a system that has a GFS2 file system mounted could use this flaw to cause a kernel panic. (CVE-2010-0727, Moderate)

* a divide-by-zero flaw was found in the ext4 file system code. A local attacker could use this flaw to cause a denial of service by mounting a specially crafted ext4 file system. (CVE-2009-4307, Low)

These updated packages also include several hundred bug fixes for and enhancements to the Linux kernel. Space precludes documenting each of these changes in this advisory and users are directed to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 Release Notes for information on the most significant of these changes :

http://www.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5.5/html/ Release_Notes/

Also, for details concerning every bug fixed in and every enhancement added to the kernel for this release, refer to the kernel chapter in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 Technical Notes :

http://www.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5.5/html/ Technical_Notes/kernel.html

All Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 users are advised to install these updated packages, which address these vulnerabilities as well as fixing the bugs and adding the enhancements noted in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 Release Notes and Technical Notes. The system must be rebooted for this update to take effect.

a. VMware vmkernel third-party e1000(e) Driver Packet Filter Bypass

    There is an issue in the e1000(e) Linux driver for Intel PRO/1000     adapters that allows a remote attacker to bypass packet filters.

    The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)     has assigned the name CVE-2009-4536 to this issue.

b. ESX third-party update for Service Console kernel

    This update for the console OS kernel package resolves four     security issues.

    1) IPv4 Remote Denial of Service

        An remote attacker can achieve a denial of service via an         issue in the kernel IPv4 code.

        The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project            (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2010-1188 to            this issue.

    2) SCSI Driver Denial of Service / Possible Privilege Escalation

        A local attacker can achieve a denial of service and         possibly a privilege escalation via a vulnerability in         the Linux SCSI drivers.

        The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project         (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-3080 to         this issue.

    3) Kernel Memory Management Arbitrary Code Execution

        A context-dependent attacker can execute arbitrary code         via a vulnerability in a kernel memory handling function.

        The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project         (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2010-2240 to         this issue.

    4) e1000 Driver Packet Filter Bypass

        There is an issue in the Service Console e1000 Linux         driver for Intel PRO/1000 adapters that allows a remote         attacker to bypass packet filters.

        The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project         (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-4536 to         this issue.

c. Multiple vulnerabilities in mount.vmhgfs

    This patch provides a fix for the following three security     issues in the VMware Host Guest File System (HGFS). None of     these issues affect Windows based Guest Operating Systems.

    1) Mount.vmhgfs Information Disclosure

        Information disclosure via a vulnerability that allows an         attacker with access to the Guest to determine if a path         exists in the Host filesystem and whether it is a file or         directory regardless of permissions.

        The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project         (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2011-2146 to         this issue.

    2) Mount.vmhgfs Race Condition

        Privilege escalation via a race condition that allows an         attacker with access to the guest to mount on arbitrary         directories in the Guest filesystem and achieve privilege         escalation if they can control the contents of the         mounted directory.

        The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project         (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2011-1787 to         this issue.

    3) Mount.vmhgfs Privilege Escalation

        Privilege escalation via a procedural error that allows         an attacker with access to the guest operating system to         gain write access to an arbitrary file in the Guest         filesystem.  This issue only affects Solaris and FreeBSD         Guest Operating Systems.

        The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project         (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2011-2145 to         this issue.

    VMware would like to thank Dan Rosenberg for reporting these     issues.

d. VI Client ActiveX vulnerabilities

    VI Client COM objects can be instantiated in Internet Explorer     which may cause memory corruption. An attacker who succeeded in     making the VI Client user visit a malicious Web site could     execute code on the user's system within the security context of     that user.

    VMware would like to thank Elazar Broad and iDefense for     reporting this issue to us.

    The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org)     has assigned the name CVE-2011-2217 to this issue.

    Affected versions.

    The vSphere Client which comes with vSphere 4.0 and vSphere 4.1     is not affected. This is any build of vSphere Client Version     4.0.0 and vSphere Client Version 4.1.0.

    VI Clients bundled with VMware Infrastructure 3 that are not     affected are :
    - VI Client 2.0.2 Build 230598 and higher
    - VI Client 2.5 Build 204931 and higher

    The issue can be remediated by replacing an affected VI Client     with the VI Client bundled with VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 6 or     VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 6a.

It was discovered that the Linux kernel did not correctly handle memory protection of the Virtual Dynamic Shared Object page when running a 32-bit application on a 64-bit kernel. A local attacker could exploit this to cause a denial of service. (Only affected Ubuntu 6.06 LTS.) (CVE-2009-4271)

It was discovered that the r8169 network driver did not correctly check the size of Ethernet frames. A remote attacker could send specially crafted traffic to crash the system, leading to a denial of service. (CVE-2009-4537)

Wei Yongjun discovered that SCTP did not correctly validate certain chunks. A remote attacker could send specially crafted traffic to monopolize CPU resources, leading to a denial of service. (Only affected Ubuntu 6.06 LTS.) (CVE-2010-0008)

It was discovered that KVM did not correctly limit certain privileged IO accesses on x86. Processes in the guest OS with access to IO regions could gain further privileges within the guest OS. (Did not affect Ubuntu 6.06 LTS.) (CVE-2010-0298, CVE-2010-0306, CVE-2010-0419)

Evgeniy Polyakov discovered that IPv6 did not correctly handle certain TUN packets. A remote attacker could exploit this to crash the system, leading to a denial of service. (Only affected Ubuntu 8.04 LTS.) (CVE-2010-0437)

Sachin Prabhu discovered that GFS2 did not correctly handle certain locks. A local attacker with write access to a GFS2 filesystem could exploit this to crash the system, leading to a denial of service.
(CVE-2010-0727)

Jamie Strandboge discovered that network virtio in KVM did not correctly handle certain high-traffic conditions. A remote attacker could exploit this by sending specially crafted traffic to a guest OS, causing the guest to crash, leading to a denial of service. (Only affected Ubuntu 8.04 LTS.) (CVE-2010-0741)

Marcus Meissner discovered that the USB subsystem did not correctly handle certain error conditions. A local attacker with access to a USB device could exploit this to read recently used kernel memory, leading to a loss of privacy and potentially root privilege escalation.
(CVE-2010-1083)

Neil Brown discovered that the Bluetooth subsystem did not correctly handle large amounts of traffic. A physically proximate remote attacker could exploit this by sending specially crafted traffic that would consume all available system memory, leading to a denial of service. (Ubuntu 6.06 LTS and 10.04 LTS were not affected.) (CVE-2010-1084)

Jody Bruchon discovered that the sound driver for the AMD780V did not correctly handle certain conditions. A local attacker with access to this hardward could exploit the flaw to cause a system crash, leading to a denial of service. (CVE-2010-1085)

Ang Way Chuang discovered that the DVB driver did not correctly handle certain MPEG2-TS frames. An attacker could exploit this by delivering specially crafted frames to monopolize CPU resources, leading to a denial of service. (Ubuntu 10.04 LTS was not affected.) (CVE-2010-1086)

Trond Myklebust discovered that NFS did not correctly handle truncation under certain conditions. A local attacker with write access to an NFS share could exploit this to crash the system, leading to a denial of service. (Ubuntu 10.04 LTS was not affected.) (CVE-2010-1087)

Al Viro discovered that automount of NFS did not correctly handle symlinks under certain conditions. A local attacker could exploit this to crash the system, leading to a denial of service. (Ubuntu 6.06 LTS and Ubuntu 10.04 LTS were not affected.) (CVE-2010-1088)

Matt McCutchen discovered that ReiserFS did not correctly protect xattr files in the .reiserfs_priv directory. A local attacker could exploit this to gain root privileges or crash the system, leading to a denial of service. (CVE-2010-1146)

Eugene Teo discovered that CIFS did not correctly validate arguments when creating new files. A local attacker could exploit this to crash the system, leading to a denial of service, or possibly gain root privileges if mmap_min_addr was not set. (CVE-2010-1148)

Catalin Marinas and Tetsuo Handa discovered that the TTY layer did not correctly release process IDs. A local attacker could exploit this to consume kernel resources, leading to a denial of service.
(CVE-2010-1162)

Neil Horman discovered that TIPC did not correctly check its internal state. A local attacker could send specially crafted packets via AF_TIPC that would cause the system to crash, leading to a denial of service. (Ubuntu 6.06 LTS was not affected.) (CVE-2010-1187)

Masayuki Nakagawa discovered that IPv6 did not correctly handle certain settings when listening. If a socket were listening with the IPV6_RECVPKTINFO flag, a remote attacker could send specially crafted traffic that would cause the system to crash, leading to a denial of service. (Only Ubuntu 6.06 LTS was affected.) (CVE-2010-1188)

Oleg Nesterov discovered that the Out-Of-Memory handler did not correctly handle certain arrangements of processes. A local attacker could exploit this to crash the system, leading to a denial of service. (CVE-2010-1488).

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.

The remote Oracle Linux 5 host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the ELSA-2010-0178 advisory.

    - [fs] gfs2: locking fix for potential dos (Steven Whitehouse) [572390] {CVE-2010-0727}
    - [net] sctp: backport cleanups for ootb handling (Neil Horman) [555667] {CVE-2010-0008}
    - [mm] fix sys_move_pages infoleak (Eugene Teo) [562590] {CVE-2010-0415}
    - [net] netfilter: enforce CAP_NET_ADMIN in ebtables (Danny Feng) [555243] {CVE-2010-0007}
    - [misc] fix kernel info leak with print-fatal-signals=1 (Danny Feng) [554584] {CVE-2010-0003}
    - [net] emergency route cache flushing fixes (Thomas Graf) [545663] {CVE-2009-4272}
    - [fs] fasync: split 'fasync_helper()' into separate add/remove functions (Danny Feng) [548657]     {CVE-2009-4141}
    - [scsi] qla2xxx: NPIV vport management pseudofiles are world writable (Tom Coughlan) [537318]     {CVE-2009-3556}
    - [net] ipv6: fix ipv6_hop_jumbo remote system crash (Amerigo Wang) [548643] {CVE-2007-4567}
    - [net] e1000e: fix rx length check errors (Amerigo Wang) [551223] {CVE-2009-4538}
    - [net] e1000: fix rx length check errors (Neil Horman) [552138] {CVE-2009-4536}
    - [net] r8169: improved frame length filtering (Neil Horman) [550915] {CVE-2009-4537}
    - [firewire] ohci: handle receive packets with zero data (Jay Fenlason) [547242] {CVE-2009-4138}
    - [fs] respect flag in do_coredump (Danny Feng) [544189] {CVE-2009-4036}
    - [fs] ext4: fix insufficient checks in EXT4_IOC_MOVE_EXT (Eric Sandeen) [546105] {CVE-2009-4131}
    - [fs] hfs: fix a potential buffer overflow (Amerigo Wang) [540741] {CVE-2009-4020}
    - [fuse] prevent fuse_put_request on invalid pointer (Danny Feng) [538737] {CVE-2009-4021}
    - [scsi] gdth: prevent negative offsets in ioctl (Amerigo Wang) [539421] {CVE-2009-3080}
    - [scsi] megaraid: fix sas permissions in sysfs (Casey Dahlin) [537313] {CVE-2009-3889 CVE-2009-3939}
    - [fs] pipe.c null pointer dereference (Jeff Moyer ) [530939] {CVE-2009-3547}
    - [nfs] v4: fix setting lock on open file with no state (Jeff Layton ) [533115] {CVE-2009-3726}
    - [drm] r128: check for init on all ioctls that require it (Danny Feng ) [529603] {CVE-2009-3620}
    - [security] require root for mmap_min_addr (Eric Paris ) [518143] {CVE-2009-2695}
    - [net] AF_UNIX: deadlock on connecting to shutdown socket (Jiri Pirko ) [529631] {CVE-2009-3621}
    - [fs] eCryptfs: prevent lower dentry from going negative (Eric Sandeen ) [527835] {CVE-2009-2908}
    - [nfs] knfsd: fix NFSv4 O_EXCL creates (Jeff Layton ) [524521] {CVE-2009-3286}
    - Revert: [net] atalk/irda: memory leak to user in getname (Don Zickus ) [519310] {CVE-2009-3001     CVE-2009-3002}
    - [net] atalk/irda: memory leak to user in getname (Danny Feng ) [519310] {CVE-2009-3001 CVE-2009-3002}
    - [md] prevent crash when accessing suspend_* sysfs attr (Danny Feng ) [518136] {CVE-2009-2849}

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Oracle Linux security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Published	Updated	Severity
46256	CentOS 4 : kernel (CESA-2010:0394)	Nessus	CentOS Local Security Checks	5/10/2010	1/4/2021	high
46282	RHEL 5 : kernel (RHSA-2010:0178)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	5/11/2010	1/14/2021	high
46306	RHEL 4 : kernel (RHSA-2010:0394)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	5/11/2010	1/14/2021	high
54968	VMSA-2011-0009 : VMware hosted product updates, ESX patches and VI Client update resolve multiple security issues	Nessus	VMware ESX Local Security Checks	6/6/2011	1/6/2021	high
46810	Ubuntu 6.06 LTS / 8.04 LTS / 9.04 / 9.10 / 10.04 LTS : linux, linux-source-2.6.15 vulnerabilities (USN-947-1)	Nessus	Ubuntu Local Security Checks	6/4/2010	9/19/2019	high
180620	Oracle Linux 5 : Oracle / Enterprise / Linux / 5.5 / kernel (ELSA-2010-0178)	Nessus	Oracle Linux Local Security Checks	9/7/2023	2/9/2026	medium

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