Scientific Linux Security Update : libvirt on SL6.x i386/x86_64 (20130516)

medium Nessus Plugin ID 66491

Synopsis

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

Description

It was found that libvirtd leaked file descriptors when listing all volumes for a particular pool. A remote attacker able to establish a read- only connection to libvirtd could use this flaw to cause libvirtd to consume all available file descriptors, preventing other users from using libvirtd services (such as starting a new guest) until libvirtd is restarted. (CVE-2013-1962)

This update also fixes the following bugs :

- Previously, libvirt made control group (cgroup) requests on files that it should not have. With older kernels, such nonsensical cgroup requests were ignored; however, newer kernels are stricter, resulting in libvirt logging spurious warnings and failures to the libvirtd and audit logs. The audit log failures displayed by the ausearch tool were similar to the following :

root [date] - failed cgroup allow path rw /dev/kqemu

With this update, libvirt no longer attempts the nonsensical cgroup actions, leaving only valid attempts in the libvirtd and audit logs (making it easier to search for real cases of failure).

- Previously, libvirt used the wrong variable when constructing audit messages. This led to invalid audit messages, causing ausearch to format certain entries as having 'path=(null)' instead of the correct path. This could prevent ausearch from locating events related to cgroup device ACL modifications for guests managed by libvirt. With this update, the audit messages are generated correctly, preventing loss of audit coverage.

After installing the updated packages, libvirtd will be restarted automatically.

Solution

Update the affected packages.

See Also

http://www.nessus.org/u?ee47c087

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 66491

File Name: sl_20130516_libvirt_on_SL6_x.nasl

Version: 1.6

Type: local

Agent: unix

Published: 5/17/2013

Updated: 1/14/2021

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Low

Score: 3.6

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:libvirt-lock-sanlock, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:libvirt-client, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:libvirt-python, x-cpe:/o:fermilab:scientific_linux, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:libvirt-devel, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:libvirt, p-cpe:/a:fermilab:scientific_linux:libvirt-debuginfo

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

Patch Publication Date: 5/16/2013

Vulnerability Publication Date: 5/29/2013

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2013-1962