Security update for Linux kernel

Knowledgebase

(Last modified: 15DEC2004)

solutions Security update for Linux kernel SuSE Linux Maintenance Web (20fe204ab30920b70619e3e473390613)

Applies to

Package: kernel-default
kernel-smp
kernel-source
kernel-syms
Product(s): SUSE CORE 9 for AMD64 and Intel EM64T
Patch: patch-9545
Release: 20041215
Obsoletes: 45052d3329f87a6d395ebf1dcf0f5b95

Indications

Everyone using the Linux Kernel on x86_64 architecture should update.

Contraindications

None.

Problem description

This update fixes following security issues:

CAN-2004-1068: Missing serialization in unix_dgram_recvmsg() could lead to elevated privileges, making it possible for a local attacker to gain root access. Thanks to Paul Starzetz for pointing out this problem.
CAN-2004-1016: Missing integer overflow checks in sendmsg / control message handling allows a local attacker to crash or halt the machine. This was independent found by Paul Starzetz and Georgi Guninski, and fixed by Herbert Xu.
A memory leak in the IP option handling in the sendmsg() system call that was reported by Georgi Guninski.
CAN-2004-1137: Some of the pointer handling in the Linux IGMP code was broken and could allow a local attacker to crash the machine. This was found by Paul Starzetz and fixed by Chris Wright.
A memory leak in ip_conntrack_ftp connection handling was fixed.
A local denial of service in aio_free_ring allows a local attacker to crash the machine.
A problem in the memory management handling of ELF executables could lead to a local attacker crashing with a handcrafted ELF binary.
CAN-2004-1151: A buffer overflow in the system call handling in the 32bit system call emulation on AMD64 / Intel EM64T systems could lead to a local privilege escalation or denial of service condition.
Fixed a remote denial of service problem in the NFS kernel service, allowing a remote attacker with NFS access to a machine to remotely crash the kernel.

Additionaly following bugs were fixed:

A vfree() was called with interrupts disabled in the SCSI generic device handling, which could lead to a hanging machine.
A race condition between a file unlink and umount could lead to a machine crash.
Fixed a small memory leak in bio_copy_user().
cdrecord -scanbus could crash the kernel when using the "gdth" SCSI driver.
Allow reading from zeropage (/dev/zero) using O_DIRECT/rawio.
Fixed some LSB issues in the fcntl compatibility handling.
The st (SCSI tape) driver did not pass on generic SCSI ioctl commands to the SCSI midlayer.

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-syms*.rpm kernel-default*.rpm for the default kernel image, or
rpm -Fvh kernel-syms*.rpm kernel-smp*.rpm for the SMP kernel image

Please do only install one of these kernels, not all of them.
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

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 for AMD64 and Intel EM64T (x86_64)

Download Source Packages

Download the source code of the patches for maintained products.

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