RHEL 4 : util-linux (RHSA-2009:0981)

high Nessus Plugin ID 38817

Synopsis

The remote Red Hat host is missing a security update.

Description

An updated util-linux package that fixes one security issue and several bugs is now available.

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

The util-linux package contains a collection of basic system utilities, such as fdisk and mount.

A log injection attack was found in util-linux when logging log in attempts via the audit subsystem of the Linux kernel. A remote attacker could use this flaw to modify certain parts of logged events, possibly hiding their activities on a system. (CVE-2008-1926)

This updated package also fixes the following bugs :

* partitions created by VMware ESX(tm) were not included in the list of recognized file systems used by fdisk. Consequently, if VMware ESX was installed, 'fdisk -l' returned 'Unknown' for these partitions. With this update, information regarding the VMKcore and VMFS partitions has been added to the file systems list. On systems running VMware ESX, 'fdisk -l' now lists information about these partitions as expected.
(BZ#447264)

* if a username was not set, the login command would fail with a Segmentation fault. With this update, login lets the audit system handle NULL usernames (it sends an AUDIT_USER_LOGIN message to the audit system in the event there is no username set). (BZ#456213)

* the nfs(5) man page listed version 2 as the default. This is incorrect: unless otherwise specified, the NFS client uses NFS version 3. The man page has been corrected. (BZ#458539)

* in certain situations, backgrounded NFS mounts died shortly after being backgrounded when the mount command was executed by the initlog command, which, for example, would occur when running an init script, such as running the 'service netfs start' command. In these situations, running the 'ps -ef' command showed backgrounded NFS mounts disappearing shortly after being backgrounded. In this updated package, backgrounded mount processes detach from the controlling terminal, which resolves this issue. (BZ#461488)

* if a new partition's starting cylinder was beyond one terabyte, fdisk could not create the partition. This has been fixed. (BZ#471372)

* in rare cases 'mount -a' ignored fstab order and tried to re-mount file systems on mpath devices. With this update, mount honors fstab order even in the rare cases reported. (BZ#472186)

* the 'mount --move' command moved a file system's mount point as expected (for example, /proc/mounts showed the changed mount point as expected) but did not update /etc/mtab properly. With this update, the 'mount --move' command gathers all necessary information about the old mount point, copies it to the new mount point and then deletes the old point, ensuring /etc/mtab is updated properly. (BZ#485004)

Util-linux users are advised to upgrade to this updated package, which addresses this vulnerability and resolves these issues.

Solution

Update the affected util-linux package.

See Also

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2008-1926

https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2009:0981

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 38817

File Name: redhat-RHSA-2009-0981.nasl

Version: 1.25

Type: local

Agent: unix

Published: 5/19/2009

Updated: 1/14/2021

Supported Sensors: Agentless Assessment, Continuous Assessment, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 5.5

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:util-linux, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:4

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/RedHat/release, Host/RedHat/rpm-list, Host/cpu

Patch Publication Date: 5/18/2009

Vulnerability Publication Date: 4/24/2008

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2008-1926

CWE: 94

RHSA: 2009:0981