CESA-2003:270: kdebase security update

Description

Updated KDE packages that resolve a local security issue with KDM PAM support and weak session cookie generation are now available.

KDE is a graphical desktop environment for the X Window System. KDE between versions 2.2.0 and 3.1.3 inclusive contain a bug in the KDE Display Manager (KDM) when checking the result of a pam_setcred() call. If an error condition is triggered by the installed PAM modules, KDM might grant local root access to any user with valid login credentials. It has been reported that one way to trigger this bug is by having a certain configuration of the MIT pam_krb5 module that leaves a session alive and gives root access to a regular user. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2003-0690 to this issue. In addition, the session cookie generation algorithm used by KDM was considered too weak to supply a full 128 bits of entropy. This could make it possible for non-authorized users, who are able to bypass any host restrictions, to brute-force the session cookie and gain acess to the current session. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2003-0692 to this issue. Users of KDE are advised to upgrade to these erratum packages, which contain security patches correcting these issues. CentOS would like to thank the KDE team for notifying us of this issue and providing the security patches.