Security update for Linux kernel

Knowledgebase

(Last modified: 25MAY2005)

solutions Security update for Linux kernel SuSE Linux Maintenance Web (012927c610add3677c52ec3a28a1648d)

Applies to

Package: kernel-default
kernel-smp
kernel-source
kernel-syms
Product(s): SUSE CORE 9 for AMD64 and Intel EM64T
Novell Linux Desktop 9 for x86_64
Patch: patch-10069
Release: 20050525
Obsoletes: none

Indications

Everyone using the Linux Kernel on x86_64 architecture should.

Problem description

This update fixes the following security problems:

when creating directories on ext2 filesystems the kernel did not zero initialize the memory allocated. Therefore potentially sensitive information could be exposed to users (CAN-2005-0400).
local users can crash the kernel via a crafted ELF library or executable, which causes a free of an invalid pointer (CAN-2005-0749).
local users could gain root access by causing a core dump of specially crafted ELF executables (CAN-2005-1263). The problem is believed to be not exploitable on kernel 2.6, we included the patch nevertheless.
insufficient checks in the 32bit DRM ioctl functions could allow unprivileged local users to gain root access.

This update also addresses the following non-security problems:

fix NFS corrupting renamed files
fix Oops in acl code
fix building the kernel package with the 'build' program
fix performance problems due to inode cache size
fix potential deadlock when renaming files

Solution

Please install the updates provided at the location noted below.

Installation notes

This update is provided as an RPM package that can easily be installed onto a running system by using this command:
rpm -Fvh kernel-*.rpm
In case you are using LILO as bootmanager, please make sure that you also execute the command
lilo
after installing the update for the system to remain bootable.
Finally, reboot the system with
shutdown -r now

links to download packages

Download Source Packages

Download the source code of the patches for maintained products.

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