kernel security update

CentOS Errata and Security Advisory CESA-2011:0162

The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux
operating system.

This update fixes the following security issues:

• A heap overflow flaw was found in the Linux kernel’s Transparent
  Inter-Process Communication protocol (TIPC) implementation. A local,
  unprivileged user could use this flaw to escalate their privileges.
  (CVE-2010-3859, Important)

• Missing sanity checks were found in gdth_ioctl_alloc() in the gdth driver
  in the Linux kernel. A local user with access to “/dev/gdth” on a 64-bit
  system could use these flaws to cause a denial of service or escalate their
  privileges. (CVE-2010-4157, Moderate)

• A NULL pointer dereference flaw was found in the Bluetooth HCI UART
  driver in the Linux kernel. A local, unprivileged user could use this flaw
  to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2010-4242, Moderate)

• A flaw was found in the Linux kernel’s garbage collector for AF_UNIX
  sockets. A local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to trigger a
  denial of service (out-of-memory condition). (CVE-2010-4249, Moderate)

• Missing initialization flaws were found in the Linux kernel. A local,
  unprivileged user could use these flaws to cause information leaks.
  (CVE-2010-3876, CVE-2010-4072, CVE-2010-4073, CVE-2010-4075, CVE-2010-4080,
  CVE-2010-4083, CVE-2010-4158, Low)

Red Hat would like to thank Alan Cox for reporting CVE-2010-4242; Vegard
Nossum for reporting CVE-2010-4249; Vasiliy Kulikov for reporting
CVE-2010-3876; Kees Cook for reporting CVE-2010-4072; and Dan Rosenberg for
reporting CVE-2010-4073, CVE-2010-4075, CVE-2010-4080, CVE-2010-4083, and
CVE-2010-4158.

This update also fixes the following bugs:

• A flaw was found in the Linux kernel where, if used in conjunction with
  another flaw that can result in a kernel Oops, could possibly lead to
  privilege escalation. It does not affect Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 as the
  sysctl panic_on_oops variable is turned on by default. However, as a
  preventive measure if the variable is turned off by an administrator, this
  update addresses the issue. Red Hat would like to thank Nelson Elhage for
  reporting this vulnerability. (BZ#659568)

• On Intel I/O Controller Hub 9 (ICH9) hardware, jumbo frame support is
  achieved by using page-based sk_buff buffers without any packet split. The
  entire frame data is copied to the page(s) rather than some to the
  skb->data area and some to the page(s) when performing a typical
  packet-split. This caused problems with the filtering code and frames were
  getting dropped before they were received by listening applications. This
  bug could eventually lead to the IP address being released and not being
  able to be re-acquired from DHCP if the MTU (Maximum Transfer Unit) was
  changed (for an affected interface using the e1000e driver). With this
  update, frames are no longer dropped and an IP address is correctly
  re-acquired after a previous release. (BZ#664667)

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.

Merged security bulletin from advisories:
https://lists.centos.org/pipermail/centos-announce/2011-January/079407.html
https://lists.centos.org/pipermail/centos-announce/2011-January/079408.html

Affected packages:
kernel
kernel-devel
kernel-doc
kernel-hugemem
kernel-hugemem-devel
kernel-largesmp
kernel-largesmp-devel
kernel-smp
kernel-smp-devel
kernel-xenU
kernel-xenU-devel

Upstream details at:
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2011:0162