Linux kernel before 2.4.21 allows local users to cause a denial of service (kernel panic) via asynchronous input or output on a FIFO special file.

From Red Hat Security Advisory 2008:0211 :

Updated kernel packages that fix various security issues and several bugs are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.

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

The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux operating system.

These updated packages fix the following security issues :

* the absence of a protection mechanism when attempting to access a critical section of code has been found in the Linux kernel open file descriptors control mechanism, fcntl. This could allow a local unprivileged user to simultaneously execute code, which would otherwise be protected against parallel execution. As well, a race condition when handling locks in the Linux kernel fcntl functionality, may have allowed a process belonging to a local unprivileged user to gain re-ordered access to the descriptor table. (CVE-2008-1669, Important)

* the absence of a protection mechanism when attempting to access a critical section of code, as well as a race condition, have been found in the Linux kernel file system event notifier, dnotify. This could allow a local unprivileged user to get inconsistent data, or to send arbitrary signals to arbitrary system processes. (CVE-2008-1375, Important)

Red Hat would like to thank Nick Piggin for responsibly disclosing the following issue :

* when accessing kernel memory locations, certain Linux kernel drivers registering a fault handler did not perform required range checks. A local unprivileged user could use this flaw to gain read or write access to arbitrary kernel memory, or possibly cause a kernel crash.
(CVE-2008-0007, Important)

* a flaw was found when performing asynchronous input or output operations on a FIFO special file. A local unprivileged user could use this flaw to cause a kernel panic. (CVE-2007-5001, Important)

* a flaw was found in the way core dump files were created. If a local user could get a root-owned process to dump a core file into a directory, which the user has write access to, they could gain read access to that core file. This could potentially grant unauthorized access to sensitive information. (CVE-2007-6206, Moderate)

* a buffer overflow was found in the Linux kernel ISDN subsystem. A local unprivileged user could use this flaw to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2007-6151, Moderate)

* a race condition found in the mincore system core could allow a local user to cause a denial of service (system hang). (CVE-2006-4814, Moderate)

* it was discovered that the Linux kernel handled string operations in the opposite way to the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC). This could allow a local unprivileged user to cause memory corruption.
(CVE-2008-1367, Low)

As well, these updated packages fix the following bugs :

* a bug, which caused long delays when unmounting mounts containing a large number of unused dentries, has been resolved.

* in the previous kernel packages, the kernel was unable to handle certain floating point instructions on Itanium(R) architectures.

* on certain Intel CPUs, the Translation Lookaside Buffer (TLB) was not flushed correctly, which caused machine check errors.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 users are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported patches to resolve these issues.

These updated packages fix the following security issues :

  - the absence of a protection mechanism when attempting to     access a critical section of code has been found in the     Linux kernel open file descriptors control mechanism,     fcntl. This could allow a local unprivileged user to     simultaneously execute code, which would otherwise be     protected against parallel execution. As well, a race     condition when handling locks in the Linux kernel fcntl     functionality, may have allowed a process belonging to a     local unprivileged user to gain re-ordered access to the     descriptor table. (CVE-2008-1669, Important)

  - the absence of a protection mechanism when attempting to     access a critical section of code, as well as a race     condition, have been found in the Linux kernel file     system event notifier, dnotify. This could allow a local     unprivileged user to get inconsistent data, or to send     arbitrary signals to arbitrary system processes.
    (CVE-2008-1375, Important)

  - when accessing kernel memory locations, certain Linux     kernel drivers registering a fault handler did not     perform required range checks. A local unprivileged user     could use this flaw to gain read or write access to     arbitrary kernel memory, or possibly cause a kernel     crash. (CVE-2008-0007, Important)

  - a flaw was found when performing asynchronous input or     output operations on a FIFO special file. A local     unprivileged user could use this flaw to cause a kernel     panic. (CVE-2007-5001, Important)

  - a flaw was found in the way core dump files were     created. If a local user could get a root-owned process     to dump a core file into a directory, which the user has     write access to, they could gain read access to that     core file. This could potentially grant unauthorized     access to sensitive information. (CVE-2007-6206,     Moderate)

  - a buffer overflow was found in the Linux kernel ISDN     subsystem. A local unprivileged user could use this flaw     to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2007-6151, Moderate)

  - a race condition found in the mincore system core could     allow a local user to cause a denial of service (system     hang). (CVE-2006-4814, Moderate)

  - it was discovered that the Linux kernel handled string     operations in the opposite way to the GNU Compiler     Collection (GCC). This could allow a local unprivileged     user to cause memory corruption. (CVE-2008-1367, Low)

As well, these updated packages fix the following bugs :

  - a bug, which caused long delays when unmounting mounts     containing a large number of unused dentries, has been     resolved.

  - in the previous kernel packages, the kernel was unable     to handle certain floating point instructions on     Itanium(R) architectures.

  - on certain Intel CPUs, the Translation Lookaside Buffer     (TLB) was not flushed correctly, which caused machine     check errors.

I   Service Console rpm updates

 a.  Security Update to Service Console Kernel

   This fix upgrades service console kernel version to 2.4.21-57.EL.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the names CVE-2007-5001, CVE-2007-6151, CVE-2007-6206,    CVE-2008-0007, CVE-2008-1367, CVE-2008-1375, CVE-2006-4814, and    CVE-2008-1669 to the security issues fixed in kernel-2.4.21-57.EL.

 b.  Samba Security Update

   This fix upgrades the service console rpm samba to version    3.0.9-1.3E.15vmw

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2008-1105 to this issue.

Updated kernel packages that fix various security issues and several bugs are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.

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

The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux operating system.

These updated packages fix the following security issues :

* the absence of a protection mechanism when attempting to access a critical section of code has been found in the Linux kernel open file descriptors control mechanism, fcntl. This could allow a local unprivileged user to simultaneously execute code, which would otherwise be protected against parallel execution. As well, a race condition when handling locks in the Linux kernel fcntl functionality, may have allowed a process belonging to a local unprivileged user to gain re-ordered access to the descriptor table. (CVE-2008-1669, Important)

* the absence of a protection mechanism when attempting to access a critical section of code, as well as a race condition, have been found in the Linux kernel file system event notifier, dnotify. This could allow a local unprivileged user to get inconsistent data, or to send arbitrary signals to arbitrary system processes. (CVE-2008-1375, Important)

Red Hat would like to thank Nick Piggin for responsibly disclosing the following issue :

* when accessing kernel memory locations, certain Linux kernel drivers registering a fault handler did not perform required range checks. A local unprivileged user could use this flaw to gain read or write access to arbitrary kernel memory, or possibly cause a kernel crash.
(CVE-2008-0007, Important)

* a flaw was found when performing asynchronous input or output operations on a FIFO special file. A local unprivileged user could use this flaw to cause a kernel panic. (CVE-2007-5001, Important)

* a flaw was found in the way core dump files were created. If a local user could get a root-owned process to dump a core file into a directory, which the user has write access to, they could gain read access to that core file. This could potentially grant unauthorized access to sensitive information. (CVE-2007-6206, Moderate)

* a buffer overflow was found in the Linux kernel ISDN subsystem. A local unprivileged user could use this flaw to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2007-6151, Moderate)

* a race condition found in the mincore system core could allow a local user to cause a denial of service (system hang). (CVE-2006-4814, Moderate)

* it was discovered that the Linux kernel handled string operations in the opposite way to the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC). This could allow a local unprivileged user to cause memory corruption.
(CVE-2008-1367, Low)

As well, these updated packages fix the following bugs :

* a bug, which caused long delays when unmounting mounts containing a large number of unused dentries, has been resolved.

* in the previous kernel packages, the kernel was unable to handle certain floating point instructions on Itanium(R) architectures.

* on certain Intel CPUs, the Translation Lookaside Buffer (TLB) was not flushed correctly, which caused machine check errors.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 users are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported patches to resolve these issues.

The remote CentOS system is missing a security update which has been documented in Red Hat advisory RHSA-2008-0211.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
67678	Oracle Linux 3 : kernel (ELSA-2008-0211)	Nessus	Oracle Linux Local Security Checks	high
60393	Scientific Linux Security Update : kernel on SL3.x i386/x86_64	Nessus	Scientific Linux Local Security Checks	high
40380	VMSA-2008-0011 : Updated ESX service console packages for Samba and vmnix	Nessus	VMware ESX Local Security Checks	high
32160	RHEL 3 : kernel (RHSA-2008:0211)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	high
32139	CentOS 3 : kernel (CESA-2008:0211)	Nessus	CentOS Local Security Checks	high
801449	CentOS RHSA-2008-0211 Security Check	Log Correlation Engine	Generic	high

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2007-5001

medium

Tenable Plugins

high

high

high

high

high

high