Updated kvm packages that fix multiple security issues and several bugs are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

This update has been rated as having important security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team.

KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is a full virtualization solution for Linux on AMD64 and Intel 64 systems. KVM is a Linux kernel module built for the standard Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernel.

The x86 emulator implementation was missing a check for the Current Privilege Level (CPL) and I/O Privilege Level (IOPL). A user in a guest could leverage these flaws to cause a denial of service (guest crash) or possibly escalate their privileges within that guest.
(CVE-2010-0298, CVE-2010-0306)

A flaw was found in the Programmable Interval Timer (PIT) emulation.
Access to the internal data structure pit_state, which represents the data state of the emulated PIT, was not properly validated in the pit_ioport_read() function. A privileged guest user could use this flaw to crash the host. (CVE-2010-0309)

A flaw was found in the USB passthrough handling code. A specially crafted USB packet sent from inside a guest could be used to trigger a buffer overflow in the usb_host_handle_control() function, which runs under the QEMU-KVM context on the host. A user in a guest could leverage this flaw to cause a denial of service (guest hang or crash) or possibly escalate their privileges within the host. (CVE-2010-0297)

This update also fixes the following bugs :

* pvclock MSR values were not preserved during remote migration, causing time drift for guests. (BZ#537028)

* SMBIOS table 4 data is now generated for Windows guests. (BZ#545874)

* if the qemu-kvm '-net user' option was used, unattended Windows XP installations did not receive an IP address after reboot. (BZ#546562)

* when being restored from migration, a race condition caused Windows Server 2008 R2 guests to hang during shutdown. (BZ#546563)

* the kernel symbol checking on the kvm-kmod build process has a safety check for ABI changes. (BZ#547293)

* on hosts without high-res timers, Windows Server 2003 guests experienced significant time drift. (BZ#547625)

* in some situations, installing Windows Server 2008 R2 from an ISO image resulted in a blue screen 'BAD_POOL_HEADER' stop error.
(BZ#548368)

* a bug in the grow_refcount_table() error handling caused infinite recursion in some cases. This caused the qemu-kvm process to hang and eventually crash. (BZ#552159)

* for Windows Server 2003 R2, Service Pack 2, 32-bit guests, an 'unhandled vm exit' error could occur during reboot on some systems.
(BZ#552518)

* for Windows guests, QEMU could attempt to stop a stopped audio device, resulting in a 'snd_playback_stop: ASSERT playback_channel->base.active failed' error. (BZ#552519)

* the Hypercall driver did not reset the device on power-down.
(BZ#552528)

* mechanisms have been added to make older savevm versions to be emitted in some cases. (BZ#552529)

* an error in the Makefile prevented users from using the source RPM to install KVM. (BZ#552530)

* guests became unresponsive and could use up to 100% CPU when running certain benchmark tests with more than 7 guests running simultaneously. (BZ#553249)

* QEMU could terminate randomly with virtio-net and SMP enabled.
(BZ#561022)

All KVM users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported patches to resolve these issues. Note: The procedure in the Solution section must be performed before this update will take effect.

The x86 emulator implementation was missing a check for the Current Privilege Level (CPL) and I/O Privilege Level (IOPL). A user in a guest could leverage these flaws to cause a denial of service (guest crash) or possibly escalate their privileges within that guest.
(CVE-2010-0298, CVE-2010-0306)

A flaw was found in the Programmable Interval Timer (PIT) emulation.
Access to the internal data structure pit_state, which represents the data state of the emulated PIT, was not properly validated in the pit_ioport_read() function. A privileged guest user could use this flaw to crash the host. (CVE-2010-0309)

A flaw was found in the USB passthrough handling code. A specially crafted USB packet sent from inside a guest could be used to trigger a buffer overflow in the usb_host_handle_control() function, which runs under the QEMU-KVM context on the host. A user in a guest could leverage this flaw to cause a denial of service (guest hang or crash) or possibly escalate their privileges within the host. (CVE-2010-0297)

This update also fixes the following bugs :

  - pvclock MSR values were not preserved during remote     migration, causing time drift for guests. (BZ#537028)

  - SMBIOS table 4 data is now generated for Windows guests.
    (BZ#545874)

  - if the qemu-kvm '-net user' option was used, unattended     Windows XP installations did not receive an IP address     after reboot. (BZ#546562)

  - when being restored from migration, a race condition     caused Windows Server 2008 R2 guests to hang during     shutdown. (BZ#546563)

  - the kernel symbol checking on the kvm-kmod build process     has a safety check for ABI changes. (BZ#547293)

  - on hosts without high-res timers, Windows Server 2003     guests experienced significant time drift. (BZ#547625)

  - in some situations, installing Windows Server 2008 R2     from an ISO image resulted in a blue screen     'BAD_POOL_HEADER' stop error. (BZ#548368)

  - a bug in the grow_refcount_table() error handling caused     infinite recursion in some cases. This caused the     qemu-kvm process to hang and eventually crash.
    (BZ#552159)

  - for Windows Server 2003 R2, Service Pack 2, 32-bit     guests, an 'unhandled vm exit' error could occur during     reboot on some systems. (BZ#552518)

  - for Windows guests, QEMU could attempt to stop a stopped     audio device, resulting in a 'snd_playback_stop: ASSERT     playback_channel->base.active failed' error. (BZ#552519)

  - the Hypercall driver did not reset the device on     power-down. (BZ#552528)

  - mechanisms have been added to make older savevm versions     to be emitted in some cases. (BZ#552529)

  - an error in the Makefile prevented users from using the     source RPM to install KVM. (BZ#552530)

  - guests became unresponsive and could use up to 100% CPU     when running certain benchmark tests with more than 7     guests running simultaneously. (BZ#553249)

  - QEMU could terminate randomly with virtio-net and SMP     enabled. (BZ#561022)

NOTE - The following procedure must be performed before this update will take effect :

1) Stop all KVM guest virtual machines.

2) Either reboot the hypervisor machine or, as the root user, remove (using 'modprobe -r [module]') and reload (using 'modprobe [module]') all of the following modules which are currently running (determined using 'lsmod'): kvm, ksm, kvm-intel or kvm-amd.

3) Restart the KVM guest virtual machines.

From Red Hat Security Advisory 2010:0088 :

Updated kvm packages that fix multiple security issues and several bugs are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

This update has been rated as having important security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team.

KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is a full virtualization solution for Linux on AMD64 and Intel 64 systems. KVM is a Linux kernel module built for the standard Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernel.

The x86 emulator implementation was missing a check for the Current Privilege Level (CPL) and I/O Privilege Level (IOPL). A user in a guest could leverage these flaws to cause a denial of service (guest crash) or possibly escalate their privileges within that guest.
(CVE-2010-0298, CVE-2010-0306)

A flaw was found in the Programmable Interval Timer (PIT) emulation.
Access to the internal data structure pit_state, which represents the data state of the emulated PIT, was not properly validated in the pit_ioport_read() function. A privileged guest user could use this flaw to crash the host. (CVE-2010-0309)

A flaw was found in the USB passthrough handling code. A specially crafted USB packet sent from inside a guest could be used to trigger a buffer overflow in the usb_host_handle_control() function, which runs under the QEMU-KVM context on the host. A user in a guest could leverage this flaw to cause a denial of service (guest hang or crash) or possibly escalate their privileges within the host. (CVE-2010-0297)

This update also fixes the following bugs :

* pvclock MSR values were not preserved during remote migration, causing time drift for guests. (BZ#537028)

* SMBIOS table 4 data is now generated for Windows guests. (BZ#545874)

* if the qemu-kvm '-net user' option was used, unattended Windows XP installations did not receive an IP address after reboot. (BZ#546562)

* when being restored from migration, a race condition caused Windows Server 2008 R2 guests to hang during shutdown. (BZ#546563)

* the kernel symbol checking on the kvm-kmod build process has a safety check for ABI changes. (BZ#547293)

* on hosts without high-res timers, Windows Server 2003 guests experienced significant time drift. (BZ#547625)

* in some situations, installing Windows Server 2008 R2 from an ISO image resulted in a blue screen 'BAD_POOL_HEADER' stop error.
(BZ#548368)

* a bug in the grow_refcount_table() error handling caused infinite recursion in some cases. This caused the qemu-kvm process to hang and eventually crash. (BZ#552159)

* for Windows Server 2003 R2, Service Pack 2, 32-bit guests, an 'unhandled vm exit' error could occur during reboot on some systems.
(BZ#552518)

* for Windows guests, QEMU could attempt to stop a stopped audio device, resulting in a 'snd_playback_stop: ASSERT playback_channel->base.active failed' error. (BZ#552519)

* the Hypercall driver did not reset the device on power-down.
(BZ#552528)

* mechanisms have been added to make older savevm versions to be emitted in some cases. (BZ#552529)

* an error in the Makefile prevented users from using the source RPM to install KVM. (BZ#552530)

* guests became unresponsive and could use up to 100% CPU when running certain benchmark tests with more than 7 guests running simultaneously. (BZ#553249)

* QEMU could terminate randomly with virtio-net and SMP enabled.
(BZ#561022)

All KVM users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported patches to resolve these issues. Note: The procedure in the Solution section must be performed before this update will take effect.

The remote Redhat Enterprise Linux 5 host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the RHSA-2010:0088 advisory.

  - kvm-userspace-rhel5: usb-linux.c: fix buffer overflow (CVE-2010-0297)

  - kvm: emulator privilege escalation (CVE-2010-0298)

  - kvm: emulator privilege escalation IOPL/CPL level check (CVE-2010-0306)

  - kvm: cat /dev/port in guest cause the host hang (CVE-2010-0309)

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
44427	CentOS 5 : kvm (CESA-2010:0088)	Nessus	CentOS Local Security Checks	2/10/2010	1/4/2021	high
60730	Scientific Linux Security Update : kvm on SL5.4 i386/x86_64	Nessus	Scientific Linux Local Security Checks	8/1/2012	1/14/2021	high
67993	Oracle Linux 5 : kvm (ELSA-2010-0088)	Nessus	Oracle Linux Local Security Checks	7/12/2013	1/14/2021	high
63916	RHEL 5 : kvm (RHSA-2010:0088)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	1/24/2013	4/18/2024	high

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