Security update for Linux kernel

Knowledgebase

(Last modified: 20JAN2005)

solutions Security update for Linux kernel SuSE Linux Maintenance Web (f793cbc0ee80cc0e657b9cfb30ac8de5)

Applies to

Package: k_deflt
kernel-source
Product(s): SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IBM zSeries
Patch: patch-9766
Release: 20050120
Obsoletes: 621e7c859352b22997743fc286559c71

Indications

Everyone using the Linux Kernel should update.

Contraindications

None.

Problem description

This update fixes following security problems:

An unlocked VM operation could lead to a local user gaining root access using a handcrafted ELF binary and the uselib system call. This problem was found by Paul Starzetz and has been assigned the Mitre CVE ID CAN-2004-1235.
A race condition in the SMP page fault handler could lead to a local attacker gaining root access on SMP machines. This problem was also found by Paul Starzetz and has been assigned the Mitre CVE ID CAN-2005-001.
A problem in the earlier cmsg / sendmsg security fix was identified and fixed which could lead 32bit applications on a 64bit system (like i386 binaries on x86_64, or PowerPC binaries on a PowerPC64 system) to handle the sendmsg call incorrectly.
An incomplete fix of the IGMP problem in the last update was replaced by the final approved fix.

Additional bug fixes were done:

A local denial of service against the auditing system was fixed.
IRQ safety issues in the gendisk layer were fixed.
On the s390 platform, some hipersockets bugs and a dasd dbf oops were fixed.

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 this command:
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 zSeries (s390x)

Download Source Packages

Download the source code of the patches for maintained products.

Disclaimer

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