CESA-2003:408: Updated kernel packages address security vulnerabilities, bugfixes

Description

Updated kernel packages that address various security vulnerabilities, fix a number of bugs, and update various drivers are now available.

The Linux kernel handles the basic functions of the operating system. The execve system call in Linux 2.4.x records the file descriptor of the executable process in the file table of the calling process, which allows local users to gain read access to restricted file descriptors. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2003-0476 to this issue. A number of bugfixes are included, including important fixes for the ext3 file system and timer code. New features include limited support for non-cached NFS file sytems, Serial ATA (SATA) devices, and new alt-sysreq debugging options. In addition, the following drivers have been updated: - e100 2.3.30-k1 - e1000 5.2.20-k1 - fusion 2.05.05+ - ips 6.10.52 - aic7xxx 6.2.36 - aic79xxx 1.3.10 - megaraid 2 2.00.9 - cciss 2.4.49 All users are advised to upgrade to these erratum packages, which contain backported patches addressing these issues.