Updated kernel packages that fix security issues, address several hundred bugs and add numerous enhancements are now available as part of the ongoing support and maintenance of Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 5. This is the fourth regular update.

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 :

* it was discovered that, when executing a new process, the clear_child_tid pointer in the Linux kernel is not cleared. If this pointer points to a writable portion of the memory of the new program, the kernel could corrupt four bytes of memory, possibly leading to a local denial of service or privilege escalation. (CVE-2009-2848, Important)

* a flaw was found in the way the do_sigaltstack() function in the Linux kernel copies the stack_t structure to user-space. On 64-bit machines, this flaw could lead to a four-byte information leak.
(CVE-2009-2847, Moderate)

* a flaw was found in the ext4 file system code. A local attacker could use this flaw to cause a denial of service by performing a resize operation on a specially crafted ext4 file system.
(CVE-2009-0745, Low)

* multiple flaws were found in the ext4 file system code. A local attacker could use these flaws to cause a denial of service by mounting a specially crafted ext4 file system. (CVE-2009-0746, CVE-2009-0747, CVE-2009-0748, Low)

These updated packages also include several hundred bug fixes for and enhancements to the Linux kernel. Space precludes documenting each of these changes in this advisory and users are directed to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 Release Notes for information on the most significant of these changes :

http://www.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5.4/html/ Release_Notes/

Also, for details concerning every bug fixed in and every enhancement added to the kernel for this release, see the kernel chapter in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 Technical Notes :

http://www.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5.4/html/ Technical_Notes/kernel.html

All Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 users are advised to install these updated packages, which address these vulnerabilities as well as fixing the bugs and adding the enhancements noted in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 Release Notes and Technical Notes. The system must be rebooted for this update to take effect.

The remote VMware ESX / ESXi host is missing a security-related patch.
It is, therefore, affected by multiple vulnerabilities, including remote code execution vulnerabilities, in the following components :

  - Apache Geronimo
  - Apache Tomcat
  - Apache Xerces2
  - cURL/libcURL
  - ISC BIND
  - Libxml2
  - Linux kernel
  - Linux kernel 64-bit
  - Linux kernel Common Internet File System
  - Linux kernel eCryptfs
  - NTP
  - Python
  - Java Runtime Environment (JRE)
  - Java SE Development Kit (JDK)
  - Java SE Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT)
  - Java SE Plugin
  - Java SE Provider
  - Java SE Swing
  - Java SE Web Start

The remote OracleVM system is missing necessary patches to address critical security updates : please see Oracle VM Security Advisory OVMSA-2013-0039 for details.

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.

The remote Oracle Linux 5 host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the ELSA-2009-1243 advisory.

  - The ext4_group_add function in fs/ext4/resize.c in the Linux kernel 2.6.27 before 2.6.27.19 and 2.6.28     before 2.6.28.7 does not properly initialize the group descriptor during a resize (aka resize2fs)     operation, which might allow local users to cause a denial of service (OOPS) by arranging for crafted     values to be present in available memory. (CVE-2009-0745)

  - The make_indexed_dir function in fs/ext4/namei.c in the Linux kernel 2.6.27 before 2.6.27.19 and 2.6.28     before 2.6.28.7 does not validate a certain rec_len field, which allows local users to cause a denial of     service (OOPS) by attempting to mount a crafted ext4 filesystem. (CVE-2009-0746)

  - The ext4_isize function in fs/ext4/ext4.h in the Linux kernel 2.6.27 before 2.6.27.19 and 2.6.28 before     2.6.28.7 uses the i_size_high structure member during operations on arbitrary types of files, which allows     local users to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption and error-message flood) by attempting to mount     a crafted ext4 filesystem. (CVE-2009-0747)

  - The ext4_fill_super function in fs/ext4/super.c in the Linux kernel 2.6.27 before 2.6.27.19 and 2.6.28     before 2.6.28.7 does not validate the superblock configuration, which allows local users to cause a denial     of service (NULL pointer dereference and OOPS) by attempting to mount a crafted ext4 filesystem.
    (CVE-2009-0748)

  - The do_sigaltstack function in kernel/signal.c in Linux kernel 2.4 through 2.4.37 and 2.6 before     2.6.31-rc5, when running on 64-bit systems, does not clear certain padding bytes from a structure, which     allows local users to obtain sensitive information from the kernel stack via the sigaltstack function.
    (CVE-2009-2847)

  - The execve function in the Linux kernel, possibly 2.6.30-rc6 and earlier, does not properly clear the     current->clear_child_tid pointer, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (memory     corruption) or possibly gain privileges via a clone system call with CLONE_CHILD_SETTID or     CLONE_CHILD_CLEARTID enabled, which is not properly handled during thread creation and exit.
    (CVE-2009-2848)

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

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-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.

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

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

  - 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-2009-0746     Sami Liedes reported an issue in the ext4 filesystem     that allows local users to cause a denial of service     (kernel oops) when accessing a specially crafted corrupt     filesystem.

  - CVE-2009-0747     David Maciejak reported an issue in the ext4 filesystem     that allows local users to cause a denial of service     (kernel oops) when mounting a specially crafted corrupt     filesystem.

  - CVE-2009-0748     David Maciejak reported an additional issue in the ext4     filesystem that allows local users to cause a denial of     service (kernel oops) when mounting a specially crafted     corrupt filesystem.

a. JRE Security Update

  JRE update to version 1.5.0_20, which addresses multiple security   issues that existed in earlier releases of JRE.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has   assigned the following names to the security issues fixed in   JRE 1.5.0_18: CVE-2009-1093, CVE-2009-1094, CVE-2009-1095,   CVE-2009-1096, CVE-2009-1097, CVE-2009-1098, CVE-2009-1099,   CVE-2009-1100, CVE-2009-1101, CVE-2009-1102, CVE-2009-1103,   CVE-2009-1104, CVE-2009-1105, CVE-2009-1106, and CVE-2009-1107.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has   assigned the following names to the security issues fixed in   JRE 1.5.0_20: CVE-2009-2625, CVE-2009-2670, CVE-2009-2671,   CVE-2009-2672, CVE-2009-2673, CVE-2009-2675, CVE-2009-2676,   CVE-2009-2716, CVE-2009-2718, CVE-2009-2719, CVE-2009-2720,   CVE-2009-2721, CVE-2009-2722, CVE-2009-2723, CVE-2009-2724.

b. Update Apache Tomcat version

  Update for VirtualCenter and ESX patch update the Tomcat package to   version 6.0.20 (vSphere 4.0) or version 5.5.28 (VirtualCenter 2.5)   which addresses multiple security issues that existed   in the previous version of Apache Tomcat.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has   assigned the following names to the security issues fixed in   Apache Tomcat 6.0.20 and Tomcat 5.5.28: CVE-2008-5515,   CVE-2009-0033, CVE-2009-0580, CVE-2009-0781, CVE-2009-0783.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has   assigned the following names to the security issues fixed in   Apache Tomcat 6.0.18:  CVE-2008-1232, CVE-2008-1947, CVE-2008-2370.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has   assigned the following names to the security issues fixed in   Apache Tomcat 6.0.16:  CVE-2007-5333, CVE-2007-5342, CVE-2007-5461,   CVE-2007-6286, CVE-2008-0002.
  c. Third-party library update for ntp.
   The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is used to synchronize a computer's   time with a referenced time source.
   ESXi 3.5 and ESXi 4.0 have a ntp client that is affected by the   following security issue. Note that the same security issue is   present in the ESX Service Console as described in section d. of   this advisory.
   A buffer overflow flaw was discovered in the ntpd daemon's NTPv4   authentication code. If ntpd was configured to use public key   cryptography for NTP packet authentication, a remote attacker could   use this flaw to send a specially crafted request packet that could   crash ntpd or, potentially, execute arbitrary code with the   privileges of the 'ntp' user.
   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org)   has assigned the name CVE-2009-1252 to this issue.
   The NTP security issue identified by CVE-2009-0159 is not relevant   for ESXi 3.5 and ESXi 4.0.
 d. Service Console update for ntp

  Service Console package ntp updated to version ntp-4.2.2pl-9el5_3.2    The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is used to synchronize a computer's   time with a referenced time source.
   The Service Console present in ESX is affected by the following   security issues.
   A buffer overflow flaw was discovered in the ntpd daemon's NTPv4   authentication code. If ntpd was configured to use public key   cryptography for NTP packet authentication, a remote attacker could   use this flaw to send a specially crafted request packet that could   crash ntpd or, potentially, execute arbitrary code with the   privileges of the 'ntp' user.
   NTP authentication is not enabled by default on the Service Console.
   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org)   has assigned the name CVE-2009-1252 to this issue.
   A buffer overflow flaw was found in the ntpq diagnostic command. A   malicious, remote server could send a specially crafted reply to an   ntpq request that could crash ntpq or, potentially, execute   arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running the ntpq   command.
   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org)   has assigned the name CVE-2009-0159 to this issue.
  e. Updated Service Console package kernel

  Updated Service Console package kernel addresses the security   issues listed below.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)   has assigned the names CVE-2008-3528, CVE-2008-5700, CVE-2009-0028,   CVE-2009-0269, CVE-2009-0322, CVE-2009-0675, CVE-2009-0676,   CVE-2009-0778 to the security issues fixed in kernel   2.6.18-128.1.6.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)   has assigned the names CVE-2008-4307, CVE-2009-0834, CVE-2009-1337,   CVE-2009-0787, CVE-2009-1336 to the security issues fixed in   kernel 2.6.18-128.1.10.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)   has assigned the names CVE-2009-1439, CVE-2009-1633, CVE-2009-1072,   CVE-2009-1630, CVE-2009-1192 to the security issues fixed in   kernel 2.6.18-128.1.14.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)   has assigned the names CVE-2007-5966, CVE-2009-1385, CVE-2009-1388,   CVE-2009-1389, CVE-2009-1895, CVE-2009-2406, CVE-2009-2407 to the   security issues fixed in kernel 2.6.18-128.4.1.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)   has assigned the names CVE-2009-2692, CVE-2009-2698 to the   security issues fixed in kernel 2.6.18-128.7.1.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)   has assigned the names CVE-2009-0745, CVE-2009-0746, CVE-2009-0747,   CVE-2009-0748, CVE-2009-2847, CVE-2009-2848 to the security issues   fixed in kernel 2.6.18-164.

 f. Updated Service Console package python

  Service Console package Python update to version 2.4.3-24.el5.

  When the assert() system call was disabled, an input sanitization   flaw was revealed in the Python string object implementation that   led to a buffer overflow. The missing check for negative size values   meant the Python memory allocator could allocate less memory than   expected. This could result in arbitrary code execution with the   Python interpreter's privileges.

  Multiple buffer and integer overflow flaws were found in the Python   Unicode string processing and in the Python Unicode and string   object implementations. An attacker could use these flaws to cause   a denial of service.

  Multiple integer overflow flaws were found in the Python imageop   module. If a Python application used the imageop module to   process untrusted images, it could cause the application to   disclose sensitive information, crash or, potentially, execute   arbitrary code with the Python interpreter's privileges.

  Multiple integer underflow and overflow flaws were found in the   Python snprintf() wrapper implementation. An attacker could use   these flaws to cause a denial of service (memory corruption).

  Multiple integer overflow flaws were found in various Python   modules. An attacker could use these flaws to cause a denial of   service.

  An integer signedness error, leading to a buffer overflow, was   found in the Python zlib extension module. If a Python application   requested the negative byte count be flushed for a decompression   stream, it could cause the application to crash or, potentially,   execute arbitrary code with the Python interpreter's privileges.

  A flaw was discovered in the strxfrm() function of the Python   locale module. Strings generated by this function were not properly   NULL-terminated, which could possibly cause disclosure of data   stored in the memory of a Python application using this function.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)   has assigned the names CVE-2007-2052 CVE-2007-4965 CVE-2008-1721   CVE-2008-1887 CVE-2008-2315 CVE-2008-3142 CVE-2008-3143   CVE-2008-3144 CVE-2008-4864 CVE-2008-5031 to these issues.

 g. Updated Service Console package bind

  Service Console package bind updated to version 9.3.6-4.P1.el5

  The Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) is an implementation of the   Domain Name System (DNS) protocols. BIND includes a DNS server   (named); a resolver library (routines for applications to use when   interfacing with DNS); and tools for verifying that the DNS server   is operating correctly.

  A flaw was found in the way BIND handles dynamic update message   packets containing the 'ANY' record type. A remote attacker could   use this flaw to send a specially crafted dynamic update packet   that could cause named to exit with an assertion failure.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)   has assigned the name CVE-2009-0696 to this issue.

 h. Updated Service Console package libxml2

  Service Console package libxml2 updated to version 2.6.26-2.1.2.8.

  libxml is a library for parsing and manipulating XML files. A   Document Type Definition (DTD) defines the legal syntax (and also   which elements can be used) for certain types of files, such as XML   files.

  A stack overflow flaw was found in the way libxml processes the   root XML document element definition in a DTD. A remote attacker   could provide a specially crafted XML file, which once opened by a   local, unsuspecting user, would lead to denial of service.

  Multiple use-after-free flaws were found in the way libxml parses   the Notation and Enumeration attribute types. A remote attacker   could provide a specially crafted XML file, which once opened by a   local, unsuspecting user, would lead to denial of service.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)   has assigned the names CVE-2009-2414 and CVE-2009-2416 to these   issues.

 i. Updated Service Console package curl

  Service Console package curl updated to version 7.15.5-2.1.el5_3.5

  A cURL is affected by the previously published 'null prefix attack',   caused by incorrect handling of NULL characters in X.509   certificates. If an attacker is able to get a carefully-crafted   certificate signed by a trusted Certificate Authority, the attacker   could use the certificate during a man-in-the-middle attack and   potentially confuse cURL into accepting it by mistake.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)   has assigned the name CVE-2009-2417 to this issue

 j. Updated Service Console package gnutls

  Service Console package gnutil updated to version 1.4.1-3.el5_3.5

  A flaw was discovered in the way GnuTLS handles NULL characters in   certain fields of X.509 certificates. If an attacker is able to get   a carefully-crafted certificate signed by a Certificate Authority   trusted by an application using GnuTLS, the attacker could use the   certificate during a man-in-the-middle attack and potentially   confuse the application into accepting it by mistake.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)   has assigned the name CVE-2009-2730 to this issue

The remote CentOS system is missing a security update which has been documented in Red Hat advisory RHSA-2009-1243.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Published	Updated	Severity
43779	CentOS 5 : kernel (CESA-2009:1243)	Nessus	CentOS Local Security Checks	1/6/2010	1/4/2021	medium
89117	VMware ESX / ESXi Multiple Vulnerabilities (VMSA-2009-0016) (remote check)	Nessus	Misc.	3/3/2016	1/6/2021	critical
79507	OracleVM 2.2 : kernel (OVMSA-2013-0039)	Nessus	OracleVM Local Security Checks	11/26/2014	1/4/2021	high
37337	Ubuntu 7.10 / 8.04 LTS / 8.10 : linux, linux-source-2.6.22 vulnerabilities (USN-751-1)	Nessus	Ubuntu Local Security Checks	4/23/2009	1/19/2021	critical
180611	Oracle Linux 5 : Oracle / Enterprise / Linux / 5.4 / kernel (ELSA-2009-1243)	Nessus	Oracle Linux Local Security Checks	9/7/2023	9/8/2023	high
35987	Debian DSA-1749-1 : linux-2.6 - denial of service/privilege escalation/sensitive memory leak	Nessus	Debian Local Security Checks	3/23/2009	1/4/2021	critical
40835	RHEL 5 : kernel (RHSA-2009:1243)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	9/2/2009	1/14/2021	medium
42870	VMSA-2009-0016 : VMware vCenter and ESX update release and vMA patch release address multiple security issues in third party components.	Nessus	VMware ESX Local Security Checks	11/23/2009	1/6/2021	medium
801475	CentOS RHSA-2009-1243 Security Check	Log Correlation Engine	Generic			high

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