Home / mailings [RHSA-2012:1087-01] Important: kernel security and bug fix update
Posted on 17 July 2012
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Red Hat Security Advisory
Synopsis: Important: kernel security and bug fix update
Advisory ID: RHSA-2012:1087-01
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Advisory URL: https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1087.html
Issue date: 2012-07-17
CVE Names: CVE-2012-2136
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1. Summary:
Updated kernel packages that fix one security issue and multiple bugs are
now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6 Extended Update Support.
The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having
important security impact. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS)
base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available from the
CVE link in the References section.
2. Relevant releases/architectures:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux EUS (v. 5.6 server) - i386, ia64, noarch, ppc, s390x, x86_64
3. Description:
The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux
operating system.
This update fixes the following security issue:
* It was found that the data_len parameter of the sock_alloc_send_pskb()
function in the Linux kernel's networking implementation was not validated
before use. A local user with access to a TUN/TAP virtual interface could
use this flaw to crash the system or, potentially, escalate their
privileges. Note that unprivileged users cannot access TUN/TAP devices
until the root user grants them access. (CVE-2012-2136, Important)
This update also fixes the following bugs:
* An insufficiently designed calculation in the CPU accelerator in the
previous kernel caused an arithmetic overflow in the sched_clock() function
when system uptime exceeded 208.5 days. This overflow led to a kernel panic
on the systems using the Time Stamp Counter (TSC) or Virtual Machine
Interface (VMI) clock source. This update corrects the described
calculation so that this arithmetic overflow and kernel panic can no longer
occur under these circumstances. (BZ#825981, BZ#835449)
* Previously, a race condition between the journal_write_metadata_buffer()
and jbd_unlock_bh_state() functions could occur. Consequently, another
thread could call the get_write_access() function on the buffer head and
cause the wrong data to be written into the journal. If the system
terminated unexpectedly or was shut down incorrectly, subsequent file
system journal replay could result in file system corruption. This update
fixes the race condition and the file system corruption no longer occurs in
the described scenario. (BZ#833764)
* When the kvmclock initialization was used in a guest, it could write to
the Time Stamp Counter (TSC) and, under certain circumstances, could cause
the kernel to become unresponsive on boot. With this update, TSC
synchronization, which is unnecessary due to kvmclock, has been disabled,
thus fixing this bug. (BZ#834557)
Users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported
patches to correct these issues. The system must be rebooted for this
update to take effect.
4. Solution:
Before applying this update, make sure all previously-released errata
relevant to your system have been applied.
This update is available via the Red Hat Network. Details on how to
use the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at
https://access.redhat.com/knowledge/articles/11258
To install kernel packages manually, use "rpm -ivh [package]". Do not
use "rpm -Uvh" as that will remove the running kernel binaries from
your system. You may use "rpm -e" to remove old kernels after
determining that the new kernel functions properly on your system.
5. Bugs fixed (http://bugzilla.redhat.com/):
816289 - CVE-2012-2136 kernel: net: insufficient data_len validation in sock_alloc_send_pskb()
6. Package List:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux EUS (v. 5.6 server):
Source:
kernel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.src.rpm
i386:
kernel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.i686.rpm
kernel-PAE-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.i686.rpm
kernel-PAE-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.i686.rpm
kernel-PAE-devel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.i686.rpm
kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.i686.rpm
kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.i686.rpm
kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.i686.rpm
kernel-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.i686.rpm
kernel-debuginfo-common-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.i686.rpm
kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.i686.rpm
kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.i386.rpm
kernel-xen-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.i686.rpm
kernel-xen-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.i686.rpm
kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.i686.rpm
ia64:
kernel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ia64.rpm
kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ia64.rpm
kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ia64.rpm
kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ia64.rpm
kernel-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ia64.rpm
kernel-debuginfo-common-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ia64.rpm
kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ia64.rpm
kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ia64.rpm
kernel-xen-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ia64.rpm
kernel-xen-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ia64.rpm
kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ia64.rpm
noarch:
kernel-doc-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.noarch.rpm
ppc:
kernel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
kernel-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
kernel-debuginfo-common-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ppc.rpm
kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
kernel-kdump-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
kernel-kdump-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
kernel-kdump-devel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
s390x:
kernel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.s390x.rpm
kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.s390x.rpm
kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.s390x.rpm
kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.s390x.rpm
kernel-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.s390x.rpm
kernel-debuginfo-common-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.s390x.rpm
kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.s390x.rpm
kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.s390x.rpm
kernel-kdump-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.s390x.rpm
kernel-kdump-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.s390x.rpm
kernel-kdump-devel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.s390x.rpm
x86_64:
kernel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
kernel-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
kernel-debuginfo-common-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
kernel-xen-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
kernel-xen-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-238.40.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
These packages are GPG signed by Red Hat for security. Our key and
details on how to verify the signature are available from
https://access.redhat.com/security/team/key/#package
7. References:
https://www.redhat.com/security/data/cve/CVE-2012-2136.html
https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#important
8. Contact:
The Red Hat security contact is <secalert@redhat.com>. More contact
details at https://access.redhat.com/security/team/contact/
Copyright 2012 Red Hat, Inc.
