Security update for Linux kernel

Knowledgebase

(Last modified: 08NOV2006)

solutions Security update for Linux kernel
SuSE Linux Maintenance Web (ab257334465861fd968252a7b2bc1f3d)

Applies to

Package: kernel-iseries64
kernel-ppc64
kernel-source
Product(s): SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IBM iSeries and IBM pSeries
Patch: patch-11284
Release: 20061108
Obsoletes: 946c2163106747c7a2bb7fce018ca5b6

Indications

Everyone using the Linux Kernel on ppc architecture should update.

Contraindications

None.

Problem description

This kernel update fixes the following security problems:

CVE-2006-3468: Remote attackers able to access an NFS of a ext2 or ext3 filesystem can cause a denial of service (file system panic) via a crafted UDP packet with a V2 lookup procedure that specifies a bad file handle (inode number), which triggers an error and causes an exported directory to be remounted read-only. [#192988] [#216265]
CVE-2006-2935: A stackbased buffer overflow in CDROM / DVD handling was fixed which could be used by a physical local attacker to crash the kernel or execute code within kernel context, depending on presence of automatic DVD handling in the system. [#190396]
CVE-2006-2444: The snmp_trap_decode function in the SNMP NAT helper allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via unspecified remote attack vectors that cause failures in snmp_trap_decode that trigger (1) frees of random memory or (2) frees of previously-freed memory (double-free) by snmp_trap_decode as well as its calling function, as demonstrated via certain test cases of the PROTOS SNMP test suite. [#177577]
If the IPX network protocol was active, it was possible to remotely crash the machine by special crafted IPX network packets [#197809].

and the following non security bugs:

Fix dumps with DUMP_LEVEL=2 [#93666] (LTC16184)
Fixed: Server crash with "__alloc_pages: 1-order allocation failed (gfp=0x1f0/0)" errors [#159193]

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.

Disclaimer

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