(RHSA-2017:0270) Important: kernel security and bug fix update

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

Security Fix(es):

• A use-after-free vulnerability was found in the kernel’s socket recvmmsg subsystem. This may allow remote attackers to corrupt memory and may allow execution of arbitrary code. This corruption takes place during the error handling routines within __sys_recvmmsg() function. (CVE-2016-7117, Important)

Bug Fix(es):

• Previously, an XFS corruption in some cases occurred on Seagate 8TB drive based volumes after a planned system shutdown or reboot, when a disk write back cache was used. With this update, the megaraid_sas driver has been fixed and the XFS corruption no longer occurs in the described scenario. (BZ#1398177)

• Previously, booting a kdump kernel in some cases failed with this error:

  Kernel panic - not syncing: Watchdog detected hard LOCKUP on CPU 0.

This update ensures that the hpet timer software counters, including hpet_default_delta and hpet_t1_cmp, are initialized before an interrupt request is registered, and the kdump kernel now boots without the mentioned error message. (BZ#1404180)