The file watch implementation in the audit subsystem (auditctl -w) in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 4 kernel 2.6.9 allows local users to cause a denial of service (kernel panic) by replacing a watched file, which does not cause the watch on the old inode to be dropped.

From Red Hat Security Advisory 2007:0085 :

Updated kernel packages that fix two security issues and a bug in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 kernel are now available.

This update 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 two security issues :

* a flaw in the key serial number collision avoidance algorithm of the keyctl subsystem that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service (CVE-2007-0006, Important)

* a flaw in the file watch implementation of the audit subsystems that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service (panic). To exploit this flaw a privileged user must have previously created a watch for a file (CVE-2007-0001, Moderate)

In addition to the security issues described above, a fix for the SCTP subsystem to address a system crash which may be experienced in Telco environments has been included.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 users are advised to upgrade their kernels to the packages associated with their machine architecture and configurations as listed in this erratum.

Updated kernel packages that fix two security issues and a bug in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 kernel are now available.

This update 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 two security issues :

* a flaw in the key serial number collision avoidance algorithm of the keyctl subsystem that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service (CVE-2007-0006, Important)

* a flaw in the file watch implementation of the audit subsystems that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service (panic). To exploit this flaw a privileged user must have previously created a watch for a file (CVE-2007-0001, Moderate)

In addition to the security issues described above, a fix for the SCTP subsystem to address a system crash which may be experienced in Telco environments has been included.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 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-2007-0085.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
67456	Oracle Linux 4 : kernel (ELSA-2007-0085)	Nessus	Oracle Linux Local Security Checks	medium
24727	CentOS 4 : kernel (CESA-2007:0085)	Nessus	CentOS Local Security Checks	medium
24724	RHEL 4 : kernel (RHSA-2007:0085)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	medium
801425	CentOS RHSA-2007-0085 Security Check	Log Correlation Engine	Generic	high

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2007-0001

medium

Tenable Plugins

medium

medium

medium

high