CESA-2003:195: kernel security update

Description

Updated kernel packages for CentOS Linux are now available which address several security vulnerabilities.

The Linux kernel handles the basic functions of the operating system. Several security issues have been found that affect the Linux kernel: Al Viro found a security issue in the tty layer whereby any user could cause a kernel oops. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2003-0247 to this issue. Andrea Arcangeli found an issue in the low-level mxcsr code in which a malformed address would leave garbage in cpu state registers. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2003-0248 to this issue. The TCP/IP fragment reassembly handling allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via packets that cause a large number of hash table collisions, a vulnerability similar to CAN-2003-0244. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2003-0364 to this issue. These kernels also contain updated fixes for the ioperm security issue, as well as fixes for a number of bugs. It is recommended that users upgrade to these erratum kernels, which contain patches to correct these vulnerabilities.