The search_binary_handler function in exec.c in Linux 2.4 kernel on 64-bit x86 architectures does not check a return code for a particular function call when virtual memory is low, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (panic), as demonstrated by running a process using the bash ulimit -v command.

Updated kernel packages that fix several security issues in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 kernel are now available.

This security advisory has been rated as having important security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team.

The Linux kernel handles the basic functions of the operating system.

These new kernel packages contain fixes for the security issues described below :

  - a flaw in network IGMP processing that a allowed a     remote user on the local network to cause a denial of     service (disabling of multicast reports) if the system     is running multicast applications (CVE-2002-2185,     moderate)

  - a flaw in remap_page_range() with O_DIRECT writes that     allowed a local user to cause a denial of service     (crash) (CVE-2004-1057, important)

  - a flaw in exec() handling on some 64-bit architectures     that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service     (crash) (CVE-2005-2708, important)

  - a flaw in procfs handling during unloading of modules     that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service     or potentially gain privileges (CVE-2005-2709, moderate)

  - a flaw in IPv6 network UDP port hash table lookups that     allowed a local user to cause a denial of service (hang)     (CVE-2005-2973, important)

  - a flaw in 32-bit-compat handling of the TIOCGDEV ioctl     that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service     (crash) (CVE-2005-3044, important)

  - a network buffer info leak using the orinoco driver that     allowed a remote user to possibly view uninitialized     data (CVE-2005-3180, important)

  - a flaw in IPv4 network TCP and UDP netfilter handling     that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service     (crash) (CVE-2005-3275, important)

  - a flaw in the IPv6 flowlabel code that allowed a local     user to cause a denial of service (crash)     (CVE-2005-3806, important)

  - a flaw in network ICMP processing that allowed a local     user to cause a denial of service (memory exhaustion)     (CVE-2005-3848, important)

  - a flaw in file lease time-out handling that allowed a     local user to cause a denial of service (log file     overflow) (CVE-2005-3857, moderate)

  - a flaw in network IPv6 xfrm handling that allowed a     local user to cause a denial of service (memory     exhaustion) (CVE-2005-3858, important)

All Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 users are advised to upgrade their kernels to the packages associated with their machine architecture and configurations as listed in this erratum.

The remote CentOS system is missing a security update which has been documented in Red Hat advisory RHSA-2006-0140.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
21881	CentOS 3 : kernel (CESA-2006:0140)	Nessus	CentOS Local Security Checks	high
20751	RHEL 3 : kernel (RHSA-2006:0140)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	high
801415	CentOS RHSA-2006-0140 Security Check	Log Correlation Engine	Generic	high

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2005-2708

medium

Tenable Plugins

high

high

high