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Security update for Linux kernel

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(Last modified: 20JAN2005)


solutions Security update for Linux kernel SuSE Linux Maintenance Web (1019147766e9fdfa975394277aaa094f)

Applies to

Package: kernel-iseries64
kernel-ppc64
kernel-source
Product(s): SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IBM iSeries and IBM pSeries
Patch: patch-9769
Release: 20050120
Obsoletes: 23d93b1d08b44e20271dc04108f70d48

Indications

Everyone using the Linux Kernel on PPC architecture should update.

Contraindications

None.

Problem description

This update fixes following security problems:
  • An unlocked VM operation could lead to a local user gaining root access using a handcrafted ELF binary and the uselib system call. This problem was found by Paul Starzetz and has been assigned the Mitre CVE ID CAN-2004-1235.
  • A race condition in the SMP page fault handler could lead to a local attacker gaining root access on SMP machines. This problem was also found by Paul Starzetz and has been assigned the Mitre CVE ID CAN-2005-001.
  • A problem in the earlier cmsg / sendmsg security fix was identified and fixed which could lead 32bit applications on a 64bit system (like i386 binaries on x86_64, or PowerPC binaries on a PowerPC64 system) to handle the sendmsg call incorrectly.
  • An incomplete fix of the IGMP problem in the last update was replaced by the final approved fix.
Additional bug fixes were done:
  • A local denial of service against the auditing system was fixed.
  • IRQ safety issues in the gendisk layer were fixed.

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.
First, find out which kernel package to use, for example with
rpm -qf /boot/vmlinuz
Download the kernel image fitting your setup and install it with either:
  • rpm -Fvh kernel-iseries64*.rpm for the 64 bit iSeries kernel image, or
  • rpm -Fvh kernel-ppc64*.rpm for the 64 bit PPC kernel image
Please do only install one of these kernels, not all of them.
After performing the RPM package update of your kernel package, you must execute the following commands as root to make sure that your system will start up again:
mk_initrd lilo
Finally, reboot the system with
shutdown -r now
to load the new kernel (replace "now" with the appropriate amount of time to allow local users to cleanly log out, for example "+5" for five minutes.)

links to download packages

Download Source Packages

Download the source code of the patches for maintained products.


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