(RHSA-2009:0225) Important: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 kernel security and bug fix update

The Linux kernel (the core of the Linux operating system)

These updated packages contain 730 bug fixes and enhancements for the Linux
kernel. Space precludes a detailed description of each of these changes in
this advisory and users are therefore directed to the release notes for Red
Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 for information on 97 of the most significant of
these changes.

Details of three security-related bug fixes are set out below, along with
notes on other broad categories of change not covered in the release notes.
For more detailed information on specific bug fixes or enhancements, please
consult the Bugzilla numbers listed in this advisory.

• when fput() was called to close a socket, the __scm_destroy() function
  in the Linux kernel could make indirect recursive calls to itself. This
  could, potentially, lead to a denial of service issue. (CVE-2008-5029,
  Important)

• a flaw was found in the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) subsystem. A
  local, unprivileged user could use the flaw to listen on the same socket
  more than once, possibly causing a denial of service. (CVE-2008-5079,
  Important)

• a race condition was found in the Linux kernel “inotify” watch removal
  and umount implementation. This could allow a local, unprivileged user
  to cause a privilege escalation or a denial of service. (CVE-2008-5182,
  Important)

• Bug fixes and enhancements are provided for:

• support for specific NICs, including products from the following
  manufacturers:
  Broadcom
  Chelsio
  Cisco
  Intel
  Marvell
  NetXen
  Realtek
  Sun

• Fiber Channel support, including support for Qlogic qla2xxx,
  qla4xxx, and qla84xx HBAs and the FCoE, FCP, and zFCP protocols.

• support for various CPUs, including:
  AMD Opteron processors with 45 nm SOI (“Shanghai”)
  AMD Turion Ultra processors
  Cell processors
  Intel Core i7 processors

• Xen support, including issues specific to the IA64 platform, systems
  using AMD processors, and Dell Optiplex GX280 systems

• ext3, ext4, GFS2, NFS, and SPUFS

• Infiniband (including eHCA, eHEA, and IPoIB) support

• common I/O (CIO), direct I/O (DIO), and queued direct I/O (qdio) support

• the kernel distributed lock manager (DLM)

• hardware issues with: SCSI, IEEE 1394 (FireWire), RAID (including issues
  specific to Adaptec controllers), SATA (including NCQ), PCI, audio, serial
  connections, tape-drives, and USB

• ACPI, some of a general nature and some related to specific hardware
  including: certain Lenovo Thinkpad notebooks, HP DC7700 systems, and
  certain machines based on Intel Centrino processor technology.

• CIFS, including Kerberos support and a tech-preview of DFS support

• networking support, including IPv6, PPPoE, and IPSec

• support for Intel chipsets, including:
  Intel Cantiga chipsets
  Intel Eagle Lake chipsets
  Intel i915 chipsets
  Intel i965 chipsets
  Intel Ibex Peak chipsets
  Intel chipsets offering QuickPath Interconnects (QPI)

• device mapping issues, including some in device mapper itself

• various issues specific to IA64 and PPC

• CCISS, including support for Compaq SMART Array controllers P711m and
  P712m and other new hardware

• various issues affecting specific HP systems, including:
  DL785G5
  XW4800
  XW8600
  XW8600
  XW9400

• IOMMU support, including specific
  issues with AMD and IBM Calgary hardware

• the audit subsystem

• DASD support

• iSCSI support, including issues specific to Chelsio T3 adapters

• LVM issues

• SCTP management information base (MIB) support

• issues with: autofs, kdump, kobject_add, libata, lpar, ptrace, and utrace

• IBM Power platforms using Enhanced I/O Error Handling (EEH)

• EDAC issues for AMD K8 and Intel i5000

• ALSA, including support for new hardware

• futex support

• hugepage support

• Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) support

• issues affecting NEC/Stratus servers

• OFED support

• SELinux

• various Virtio issues

All users are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which resolve
these issues and add these enhancements.