The console selection feature in the Linux kernel 2.6.28 before 2.6.28.4, 2.6.25, and possibly earlier versions, when the UTF-8 console is used, allows physically proximate attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption) by selecting a small number of 3-byte UTF-8 characters, which triggers an "off-by-two memory error." NOTE: it is not clear whether this issue crosses privilege boundaries.

This Linux kernel update for SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 Service Pack 2 fixes various bugs and several security issues.

The following security issues were fixed: CVE-2009-0675: The skfp_ioctl function in drivers/net/skfp/skfddi.c in the Linux kernel permits SKFP_CLR_STATS requests only when the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability is absent, instead of when this capability is present, which allows local users to reset the driver statistics, related to an 'inverted logic' issue.

  - The sock_getsockopt function in net/core/sock.c in the     Linux kernel does not initialize a certain structure     member, which allows local users to obtain potentially     sensitive information from kernel memory via an     SO_BSDCOMPAT getsockopt request. (CVE-2009-0676)

  - The clone system call in the Linux kernel allows local     users to send arbitrary signals to a parent process from     an unprivileged child process by launching an additional     child process with the CLONE_PARENT flag, and then     letting this new process exit. (CVE-2009-0028)

  - The Linux kernel does not check when a user attempts to     set RLIMIT_CPU to 0 until after the change is made,     which allows local users to bypass intended resource     limits. (CVE-2008-1294)

  - Buffer overflow in net/sctp/sm_statefuns.c in the Stream     Control Transmission Protocol (sctp) implementation in     the Linux kernel allows remote attackers to have an     unknown impact via an FWD-TSN (aka FORWARD-TSN) chunk     with a large stream ID. (CVE-2009-0065)

  - The console selection feature in the Linux kernel when     the UTF-8 console is used, allows physically proximate     attackers to cause a denial of service (memory     corruption) by selecting a small number of 3-byte UTF-8     characters, which triggers an an off-by-two memory     error. It is is not clear if this can be exploited at     all. (CVE-2009-1046)

Also a huge number of regular bugs were fixed, please see the RPM changelog for full details.

This kernel update for openSUSE 11.0 fixes some bugs and several security problems.

The following security issues are fixed: CVE-2009-2692: A missing NULL pointer check in the socket sendpage function can be used by local attackers to gain root privileges.

CVE-2009-2406: A kernel stack overflow when mounting eCryptfs filesystems in parse_tag_11_packet() was fixed. Code execution might be possible of ecryptfs is in use.

CVE-2009-2407: A kernel heap overflow when mounting eCryptfs filesystems in parse_tag_3_packet() was fixed. Code execution might be possible of ecryptfs is in use.

The compiler option -fno-delete-null-pointer-checks was added to the kernel build, and the -fwrapv compiler option usage was fixed to be used everywhere. This works around the compiler removing checks too aggressively.

CVE-2009-1389: A crash in the r8169 driver when receiving large packets was fixed. This is probably exploitable only in the local network.

CVE-2009-1895: Personality flags on set*id were not cleared correctly, so ASLR and NULL page protection could be bypassed.

CVE-2009-1046: A utf-8 console memory corruption that can be used for local privilege escalation was fixed.

The NULL page protection using mmap_min_addr was enabled (was disabled before).

No CVE yet: A sigaltstack kernel memory disclosure was fixed.

CVE-2008-5033: A local denial of service (Oops) in video4linux tvaudio was fixed.

CVE-2009-1385: A Integer underflow in the e1000_clean_rx_irq function in drivers/net/e1000/e1000_main.c in the e1000 driver the e1000e driver in the Linux kernel, and Intel Wired Ethernet (aka e1000) before 7.5.5 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (panic) via a crafted frame size.

Several vulnerabilities have been discovered in the Linux kernel that may lead to a denial of service, privilege escalation or a sensitive memory leak. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project identifies the following problems :

  - CVE-2009-0028     Chris Evans discovered a situation in which a child     process can send an arbitrary signal to its parent.

  - CVE-2009-0834     Roland McGrath discovered an issue on amd64 kernels that     allows local users to circumvent system call audit     configurations which filter based on the syscall numbers     or argument details.

  - CVE-2009-0835     Roland McGrath discovered an issue on amd64 kernels with     CONFIG_SECCOMP enabled. By making a specially crafted     syscall, local users can bypass access restrictions.

  - CVE-2009-0859     Jiri Olsa discovered that a local user can cause a     denial of service (system hang) using a SHM_INFO shmctl     call on kernels compiled with CONFIG_SHMEM disabled.
    This issue does not affect prebuilt Debian kernels.

  - CVE-2009-1046     Mikulas Patocka reported an issue in the console     subsystem that allows a local user to cause memory     corruption by selecting a small number of 3-byte UTF-8     characters.

  - CVE-2009-1072     Igor Zhbanov reported that nfsd was not properly     dropping CAP_MKNOD, allowing users to create device     nodes on file systems exported with root_squash.

  - CVE-2009-1184     Dan Carpenter reported a coding issue in the selinux     subsystem that allows local users to bypass certain     networking checks when running with compat_net=1.

  - CVE-2009-1192     Shaohua Li reported an issue in the AGP subsystem they     may allow local users to read sensitive kernel memory     due to a leak of uninitialized memory.

  - CVE-2009-1242     Benjamin Gilbert reported a local denial of service     vulnerability in the KVM VMX implementation that allows     local users to trigger an oops.

  - CVE-2009-1265     Thomas Pollet reported an overflow in the af_rose     implementation that allows remote attackers to retrieve     uninitialized kernel memory that may contain sensitive     data.

  - CVE-2009-1337     Oleg Nesterov discovered an issue in the exit_notify     function that allows local users to send an arbitrary     signal to a process by running a program that modifies     the exit_signal field and then uses an exec system call     to launch a setuid application.

  - CVE-2009-1338     Daniel Hokka Zakrisson discovered that a kill(-1) is     permitted to reach processes outside of the current     process namespace.

  - CVE-2009-1439     Pavan Naregundi reported an issue in the CIFS filesystem     code that allows remote users to overwrite memory via a     long nativeFileSystem field in a Tree Connect response     during mount.

Several vulnerabilities have been discovered in the Linux kernel that may lead to a denial of service or privilege escalation. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project identifies the following problems :

  - CVE-2008-4307     Bryn M. Reeves reported a denial of service in the NFS     filesystem. Local users can trigger a kernel BUG() due     to a race condition in the do_setlk function.

  - CVE-2008-5079     Hugo Dias reported a DoS condition in the ATM subsystem     that can be triggered by a local user by calling the     svc_listen function twice on the same socket and reading     /proc/net/atm/*vc.

  - CVE-2008-5395     Helge Deller discovered a denial of service condition     that allows local users on PA-RISC systems to crash a     system by attempting to unwind a stack containing     userspace addresses.

  - CVE-2008-5700     Alan Cox discovered a lack of minimum timeouts on SG_IO     requests, which allows local users of systems using ATA     to cause a denial of service by forcing drives into PIO     mode.

  - CVE-2008-5701     Vlad Malov reported an issue on 64-bit MIPS systems     where a local user could cause a system crash by crafing     a malicious binary which makes o32 syscalls with a     number less than 4000.

  - CVE-2008-5702     Zvonimir Rakamaric reported an off-by-one error in the     ib700wdt watchdog driver which allows local users to     cause a buffer underflow by making a specially crafted     WDIOC_SETTIMEOUT ioctl call.

  - CVE-2009-0028     Chris Evans discovered a situation in which a child     process can send an arbitrary signal to its parent.

  - CVE-2009-0029     Christian Borntraeger discovered an issue effecting the     alpha, mips, powerpc, s390 and sparc64 architectures     that allows local users to cause a denial of service or     potentially gain elevated privileges.

  - CVE-2009-0031     Vegard Nossum discovered a memory leak in the keyctl     subsystem that allows local users to cause a denial of     service by consuming all of kernel memory.

  - CVE-2009-0065     Wei Yongjun discovered a memory overflow in the SCTP     implementation that can be triggered by remote users,     permitting remote code execution.

  - CVE-2009-0269     Duane Griffin provided a fix for an issue in the     eCryptfs subsystem which allows local users to cause a     denial of service (fault or memory corruption).

  - CVE-2009-0322     Pavel Roskin provided a fix for an issue in the dell_rbu     driver that allows a local user to cause a denial of     service (oops) by reading 0 bytes from a sysfs entry.

  - CVE-2009-0675     Roel Kluin discovered inverted logic in the skfddi     driver that permits local, unprivileged users to reset     the driver statistics.

  - CVE-2009-0676     Clement LECIGNE discovered a bug in the sock_getsockopt     function that may result in leaking sensitive kernel     memory.

  - CVE-2009-0745     Peter Kerwien discovered an issue in the ext4 filesystem     that allows local users to cause a denial of service     (kernel oops) during a resize operation.

  - CVE-2009-0834     Roland McGrath discovered an issue on amd64 kernels that     allows local users to circumvent system call audit     configurations which filter based on the syscall numbers     or argument details.

  - CVE-2009-0859     Jiri Olsa discovered that a local user can cause a     denial of service (system hang) using a SHM_INFO shmctl     call on kernels compiled with CONFIG_SHMEM disabled.
    This issue does not affect prebuilt Debian kernels.

  - CVE-2009-1046     Mikulas Patocka reported an issue in the console     subsystem that allows a local user to cause memory     corruption by selecting a small number of 3-byte UTF-8     characters.

  - CVE-2009-1192     Shaohua Li reported an issue in the AGP subsystem that     may allow local users to read sensitive kernel memory     due to a leak of uninitialized memory.

  - CVE-2009-1242     Benjamin Gilbert reported a local denial of service     vulnerability in the KVM VMX implementation that allows     local users to trigger an oops.

  - CVE-2009-1265     Thomas Pollet reported an overflow in the af_rose     implementation that allows remote attackers to retrieve     uninitialized kernel memory that may contain sensitive     data.

  - CVE-2009-1337     Oleg Nesterov discovered an issue in the exit_notify     function that allows local users to send an arbitrary     signal to a process by running a program that modifies     the exit_signal field and then uses an exec system call     to launch a setuid application.

  - CVE-2009-1338     Daniel Hokka Zakrisson discovered that a kill(-1) is     permitted to reach processes outside of the current     process namespace.

  - CVE-2009-1439     Pavan Naregundi reported an issue in the CIFS filesystem     code that allows remote users to overwrite memory via a     long nativeFileSystem field in a Tree Connect response     during mount.

NFS did not correctly handle races between fcntl and interrupts. A local attacker on an NFS mount could consume unlimited kernel memory, leading to a denial of service. Ubuntu 8.10 was not affected.
(CVE-2008-4307)

Sparc syscalls did not correctly check mmap regions. A local attacker could cause a system panic, leading to a denial of service. Ubuntu 8.10 was not affected. (CVE-2008-6107)

In certain situations, cloned processes were able to send signals to parent processes, crossing privilege boundaries. A local attacker could send arbitrary signals to parent processes, leading to a denial of service. (CVE-2009-0028)

The kernel keyring did not free memory correctly. A local attacker could consume unlimited kernel memory, leading to a denial of service.
(CVE-2009-0031)

The SCTP stack did not correctly validate FORWARD-TSN packets. A remote attacker could send specially crafted SCTP traffic causing a system crash, leading to a denial of service. (CVE-2009-0065)

The eCryptfs filesystem did not correctly handle certain VFS return codes. A local attacker with write-access to an eCryptfs filesystem could cause a system crash, leading to a denial of service.
(CVE-2009-0269)

The Dell platform device did not correctly validate user parameters. A local attacker could perform specially crafted reads to crash the system, leading to a denial of service. (CVE-2009-0322)

The page fault handler could consume stack memory. A local attacker could exploit this to crash the system or gain root privileges with a Kprobe registered. Only Ubuntu 8.10 was affected. (CVE-2009-0605)

Network interfaces statistics for the SysKonnect FDDI driver did not check capabilities. A local user could reset statistics, potentially interfering with packet accounting systems. (CVE-2009-0675)

The getsockopt function did not correctly clear certain parameters. A local attacker could read leaked kernel memory, leading to a loss of privacy. (CVE-2009-0676)

The ext4 filesystem did not correctly clear group descriptors when resizing. A local attacker could exploit this to crash the system, leading to a denial of service. (CVE-2009-0745)

The ext4 filesystem did not correctly validate certain fields. A local attacker could mount a malicious ext4 filesystem, causing a system crash, leading to a denial of service. (CVE-2009-0746, CVE-2009-0747, CVE-2009-0748)

The syscall interface did not correctly validate parameters when crossing the 64-bit/32-bit boundary. A local attacker could bypass certain syscall restricts via crafted syscalls. (CVE-2009-0834, CVE-2009-0835)

The shared memory subsystem did not correctly handle certain shmctl calls when CONFIG_SHMEM was disabled. Ubuntu kernels were not vulnerable, since CONFIG_SHMEM is enabled by default. (CVE-2009-0859)

The virtual consoles did not correctly handle certain UTF-8 sequences.
A local attacker on the physical console could exploit this to cause a system crash, leading to a denial of service. (CVE-2009-1046).

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
59136	SuSE 10 Security Update : Linux kernel (ZYPP Patch Number 6113)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	critical
41538	SuSE 10 Security Update : Linux kernel (ZYPP Patch Number 6109)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	critical
40783	openSUSE Security Update : kernel (kernel-1211)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	high
38795	Debian DSA-1800-1 : linux-2.6 - denial of service/privilege escalation/sensitive memory leak	Nessus	Debian Local Security Checks	high
38668	Debian DSA-1787-1 : linux-2.6.24 - denial of service/privilege escalation/information leak	Nessus	Debian Local Security Checks	critical
37337	Ubuntu 7.10 / 8.04 LTS / 8.10 : linux, linux-source-2.6.22 vulnerabilities (USN-751-1)	Nessus	Ubuntu Local Security Checks	critical

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2009-1046

high

Tenable Plugins

critical

critical

high

high

critical

critical