Security update for Linux kernel

Knowledgebase

(Last modified: 15DEC2004)

solutions Security update for Linux kernel SuSE Linux Maintenance Web (820d43316a6ff8abd137b5f9feffa862)

Applies to

Package: k_deflt
k_itanium2-smp
k_itanium2
k_smp
kernel-source
Product(s): SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IPF

Release: 20041215
Obsoletes: 473b1556343a356371498182fee359cd

Indications

Everyone using the Linux Kernel on IPF 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.

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 install by using the following command:


rpm -qf /boot/vmlinuz

Download the kernel image fitting your setup and install it with either:

rpm -Fvh k_deflt-*.rpm for the default kernel image, or
rpm -Fvh k_itanium2-smp-*.rpm for the Itanium2 SMP kernel image, or
rpm -Fhv k_itanium2.rpm-*.rpm for the Itanium2 kernel image, or
rpm -Fhv k_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 8 for IPF (ia64)

Download Source Packages

Download the source code of the patches for maintained products.

Disclaimer

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