Security update for Linux kernel

Knowledgebase

(Last modified: 15DEC2004)

solutions Security update for Linux kernel SuSE Linux Maintenance Web (23d93b1d08b44e20271dc04108f70d48)

Applies to

Package: kernel-iseries64
kernel-ppc64
kernel-source
Product(s): SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IBM iSeries and IBM pSeries

Release: 20041215
Obsoletes: e15ca505c0d4ec017a94d29bd1853da1

Indications

Everyone using the Linux Kernel on PPC 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.

It also fixes the following bugs:

A race condition in SCSI I/O accounting which could lead to erroneous reports on SCSI disk I/O was fixed.
A memory leak in addition / removal of SCSI target devices was fixed.
The "memfrac" and "lower_zone_reserve" kernel parameters had no effect since they were used before kernel commandline parsing.
ppc: Missing synchronization could lead to processes hanging in signal delivery.

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

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IBM iSeries and IBM pSeries (ppc)

Download Source Packages

Download the source code of the patches for maintained products.

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