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Security update for Linux kernel

Knowledgebase

(Last modified: 31MAY2005)


solutions Security update for Linux kernel SuSE Linux Maintenance Web (f0f03f02699b998edb62098de7b55696)

Applies to

Package: k_deflt
k_itanium2-smp
k_itanium2
k_smp
kernel-source
k_page-64k
Product(s): SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IPF
Patch: patch-10216
Release: 20050531
Obsoletes: 8444ff7a9fd2f2d3d6cf52c0d64146d1
0abece4e7b5340fdb16eda2bcac5a2e7

Indications

Everyone using the Linux Kernel on IPF architecture 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
i386 specific:
  • fix write performance problems on machines with more than 1GB memory

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

Download Source Packages

Download the source code of the patches for maintained products.


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