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Security update for Linux kernel

Knowledgebase

(Last modified: 01JUL2004)


solutions Security update for Linux kernel SuSE Linux Maintenance Web (fd20460b62f25c351a365090f92f35e7)

Applies to

Product(s): SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IPF

Package: k_deflt
k_itanium2-smp
k_itanium2
k_smp
kernel-source
Release: 20040701
Obsoletes: fbc452895c8686539b54ae55bbebf6be

Indications

Everyone using the Linux Kernel on IPF architecture should update.

Contraindications

None.

Problem description

This kernel update fixes several security critical bugs that range from local denial-of-service conditions to possible privilege escalation.
  • chown: users can change the group affiliation of arbitrary files to the group they belong to
  • pss, mpu401 sound driver: read/write to complete memory
  • airo driver: read/write to complete memory
  • ALSA: copy_from_user/copy_to_user confused
  • acpi_asus: read from random memory
  • decnet: write to memory without checking
  • e1000 driver: read complete 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
(N.B.: 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.)
If you are interested in installing the kernel sources, please download the package kernel-source and install it with:
rpm -Uhv kernel-source-*.rpm

links to download packages

Download Source Packages

Download the source code of the patches for maintained products.


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