Scientific Linux Security Update : kernel on SL4.x i386/x86_64

high Nessus Plugin ID 60609

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Synopsis

The remote Scientific Linux host is missing one or more security updates.

Description

These updated packages fix the following security issues :

- the exit_notify() function in the Linux kernel did not properly reset the exit signal if a process executed a set user ID (setuid) application before exiting. This could allow a local, unprivileged user to elevate their privileges. (CVE-2009-1337, Important)

- the Linux kernel implementation of the Network File System (NFS) did not properly initialize the file name limit in the nfs_server data structure. This flaw could possibly lead to a denial of service on a client mounting an NFS share. (CVE-2009-1336, Moderate)

- a flaw was found in the Intel PRO/1000 network driver in the Linux kernel. Frames with sizes near the MTU of an interface may be split across multiple hardware receive descriptors. Receipt of such a frame could leak through a validation check, leading to a corruption of the length check. A remote attacker could use this flaw to send a specially crafted packet that would cause a denial of service. (CVE-2009-1385, Important)

- the Linux kernel Network File System daemon (nfsd) implementation did not drop the CAP_MKNOD capability when handling requests from local, unprivileged users.
This flaw could possibly lead to an information leak or privilege escalation. (CVE-2009-1072, Moderate)

- Frank Filz reported the NFSv4 client was missing a file permission check for the execute bit in some situations.
This could allow local, unprivileged users to run non-executable files on NFSv4 mounted file systems.
(CVE-2009-1630, Moderate)

- a missing check was found in the hypervisor_callback() function in the Linux kernel provided by the kernel-xen package. This could cause a denial of service of a 32-bit guest if an application running in that guest accesses a certain memory location in the kernel.
(CVE-2009-1758, Moderate)

- a flaw was found in the AGPGART driver. The agp_generic_alloc_page() and agp_generic_alloc_pages() functions did not zero out the memory pages they allocate, which may later be available to user-space processes. This flaw could possibly lead to an information leak. (CVE-2009-1192, Low)

These updated packages also fix the following bugs :

- '/proc/[pid]/maps' and '/proc/[pid]/smaps' can only be read by processes able to use the ptrace() call on a given process; however, certain information from '/proc/[pid]/stat' and '/proc/[pid]/wchan' could be used to reconstruct memory maps, making it possible to bypass the Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) security feature. This update addresses this issue. (BZ#499549)

- in some situations, the link count was not decreased when renaming unused files on NFS mounted file systems.
This may have resulted in poor performance. With this update, the link count is decreased in these situations, the same as is done for other file operations, such as unlink and rmdir. (BZ#501802)

- tcp_ack() cleared the probes_out variable even if there were outstanding packets. When low TCP keepalive intervals were used, this bug may have caused problems, such as connections terminating, when using remote tools such as rsh and rlogin. (BZ#501754)

- off-by-one errors in the time normalization code could have caused clock_gettime() to return one billion nanoseconds, rather than adding an extra second. This bug could have caused the name service cache daemon (nscd) to consume excessive CPU resources. (BZ#501800)

- a system panic could occur when one thread read '/proc/bus/input/devices' while another was removing a device. With this update, a mutex has been added to protect the input_dev_list and input_handler_list variables, which resolves this issue. (BZ#501804)

- using netdump may have caused a kernel deadlock on some systems. (BZ#504565)

- the file system mask, which lists capabilities for users with a file system user ID (fsuid) of 0, was missing the CAP_MKNOD and CAP_LINUX_IMMUTABLE capabilities. This could, potentially, allow users with an fsuid other than 0 to perform actions on some file system types that would otherwise be prevented. This update adds these capabilities. (BZ#497269)

Kernel Feature Support :

- added a new allowable value to '/proc/sys/kernel/wake_balance' to allow the scheduler to run the thread on any available CPU rather than scheduling it on the optimal CPU.

- added 'max_writeback_pages' tunable parameter to /proc/sys/vm/ to allow the maximum number of modified pages kupdate writes to disk, per iteration per run.

- added 'swap_token_timeout' tunable parameter to /proc/sys/vm/ to provide a valid hold time for the swap out protection token.

- added diskdump support to sata_svw driver.

- limited physical memory to 64GB for 32-bit kernels running on systems with more than 64GB of physical memory to prevent boot failures.

- improved reliability of autofs.

- added support for 'rdattr_error' in NFSv4 readdir requests.

- fixed various short packet handling issues for NFSv4 readdir and sunrpc.

- fixed several CIFS bugs.

Networking and IPv6 Enablement :

- added router solicitation support.

- enforced sg requires tx csum in ethtool.

Platform Support :

x86, AMD64, Intel 64

- added support for a new Intel chipset.

- added initialization vendor info in boot_cpu_data.

- added support for N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) for IBM System z guests using zFCP.

- added HDMI support for some AMD and ATI chipsets.

- updated HDA driver in ALSA to latest upstream as of 2008-07-22.

- added support for affected_cpus for cpufreq.

- removed polling timer from i8042.

- fixed PM-Timer when using the ASUS A8V Deluxe motherboard.

- backported usbfs_mutex in usbfs.

Network Driver Updates :

- updated forcedeth driver to latest upstream version 0.61.

- fixed various e1000 issues when using Intel ESB2 hardware.

- updated e1000e driver to upstream version 0.3.3.3-k6.

- updated igb to upstream version 1.2.45-k2.

- updated tg3 to upstream version 3.96.

- updated ixgbe to upstream version 1.3.18-k4.

- updated bnx2 to upstream version 1.7.9.

- updated bnx2x to upstream version 1.45.23.

- fixed bugs and added enhancements for the NetXen NX2031 and NX3031 products.

- updated Realtek r8169 driver to support newer network chipsets. All variants of RTL810x/RTL8168(9) are now supported.

Storage Driver Updates :

- fixed various SCSI issues. Also, the SCSI sd driver now calls the revalidate_disk wrapper.

- fixed a dmraid reduced I/O delay bug in certain configurations.

- removed quirk aac_quirk_scsi_32 for some aacraid controllers.

- updated FCP driver on IBM System z systems with support for point-to-point connections.

- updated lpfc to version 8.0.16.46.

- updated megaraid_sas to version 4.01-RH1.

- updated MPT Fusion driver to version 3.12.29.00rh.

- updated qla2xxx firmware to 4.06.01 for 4GB/s and 8GB/s adapters.

- updated qla2xxx driver to version 8.02.09.00.04.08-d.

- fixed sata_nv in libsata to disable ADMA mode by default.

Miscellaneous Updates :

- upgraded OpenFabrics Alliance Enterprise Distribution (OFED) to version 1.4.

- added driver support and fixes for various Wacom tablets.

Note: The system must be rebooted for this update to take effect.

Solution

Update the affected packages.

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 60609

File Name: sl_20090630_kernel_on_SL4_x.nasl

Version: 1.8

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Scientific Linux Local Security Checks

Published: 8/1/2012

Updated: 1/14/2021

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.7

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.8

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: x-cpe:/o:fermilab:scientific_linux

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

Patch Publication Date: 6/30/2009

Vulnerability Publication Date: 3/24/2009

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2009-1072, CVE-2009-1192, CVE-2009-1336, CVE-2009-1337, CVE-2009-1385, CVE-2009-1630, CVE-2009-1758

CWE: 16, 189, 20, 264, 399

Detections

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