CESA-2003:145: Updated kernel fixes security vulnerabilities and updates drivers

Description

These updated kernel packages address security vulnerabilites, including a potential data corruption scenario. In addition, a number of drivers have been updated, bugs have been resolved, and support for the IBM x450 platform and the Madison processor have been added.

The Linux kernel handles the basic functions of the operating system. A ptrace-related vulnerability has been discovered that could allow a local user to gain elevated (root) privileges without authorization. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2003-0127 to this issue. A flaw has been discovered that could potentially lead to data corruption. The scenario only occurs while performing memory mapped file I/O, where the file is simultaneously unlinked and the corresponding file blocks reallocated. Furthermore, the memory mapped must be to a partial page at the end of a file on an ext3 file system. As such, CentOS considers this scenario unlikely. A flaw has been found in several hash table implementations in the kernel networking code. A remote attacker could send packets with carefully chosen, forged source addresses in such a way as to make every routing cache entry get hashed into the same hash chain. The result would be that the kernel would use a disproportionate amount of processor time to deal with new packets, resulting in a remote denial of service attack. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2003-0244 to this issue. In addition, the following drivers have been updated to the version indicated: - e1000: 4.4.19-k1 - e100: 2.1.29-k2 - ips: 6.00.26 - qla2100, qla2200, qla2300: v6.04.01 - tg3 driver to 1.4c - cciss driver to 2.4.44 - mpt fusion: 2.05.00 - aic7xxx to 6.2.32 - aic79xx to 1.3.6 If the system is configured to use alternate drivers, we recommend applying the kudzu errata RHEA-2003:132 prior to updating the kernel. The updated kernel also adds support for the IBM x450 platform and the Madison processor, and incorporates improved support for the hugetlb file system. This file system makes efficient use of the large page size support that the Itanium architecture provides. All users should upgrade to these errata packages, which address these issues.