Security update for Linux kernel

Knowledgebase

(Last modified: 31MAY2005)

solutions Security update for Linux kernel SuSE Linux Maintenance Web (d47bda72442464a1dede0e81b32d7ca8)

Applies to

Package: k_deflt
kernel-source
Product(s): SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IBM S/390 and IBM zSeries
Patch: patch-10212
Release: 20050531
Obsoletes: c38ea53bbeb84a810c89222e6fac857a
d3661da3f395c6d0b3932c0dce8c3c28

Indications

Everyone using the Linux Kernel should update.

Contraindications

None.

Problem description

This update fixes the following security problems:

when creating directories on ext2 filesystems the kernel did not zero initialize the memory allocated. Therefore potentially sensitive information could be exposed to users (CAN-2005-0400).
local users can crash the kernel via a crafted ELF library or executable, which causes a free of an invalid pointer (CAN-2005-0749).
local users could gain root access by causing a core dump of specially crafted ELF executables (CAN-2005-1263).

This update also addresses the following non-security problems:

fix files beeing truncated to four gigabytes on ext3
fix entries in /proc that caused 'top' to crash
fix kernel crash caused by busy inodes after umount
fix data corruption issue in MD multipath when retrying failed IO
enhanced locking in MD multipath and raid1
fix endless loop in IPsec
fix crash in XFS filesystem

Platform specific fixes
This kernel update also contains the IBM 2005-04-28 kernel 2.4.21 bug fix patch 25 which fixes the following issues:

lcs: fix system hang when registering of multicast addresses fails.
qeth: fix VLAN malformed unicast packets in layer 2 mode.
qeth: do not allow layer 2 mode in case of Hipersocket devices.
s390dbf: use more specific permissions for procfs files.
scsi: fix LVM being unable to re-enable a path after a cable pull.
z90crypt: fix kernel Oops while writing to /proc/driver/z90crypt
zfcp: increase retrying of exchange config data requests up to 2 minutes.

For a detailed description of the list of solved Problem IDs from IBM please refer to http://www10.software.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/linux390/june2003_recommended.shtml.

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 by using these commands:


rpm -Fvh k_deflt.rpm
zipl

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 S/390 and IBM zSeries (s390)

Download Source Packages

Download the source code of the patches for maintained products.

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