CESA-2004:044: kernel security update

Description

Updated kernel packages are now available that fix a few security issues, an NFS performance issue, and an e1000 driver loading issue introduced in Update 3.

The Linux kernel handles the basic functions of the operating system. Alan Cox found issues in the R128 Direct Render Infrastructure that could allow local privilege escalation. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2004-0003 to this issue. The C-Media PCI sound driver in Linux before 2.4.22 does not use the get_user function to access userspace in certain conditions, which crosses security boundaries. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2003-0700 to this issue. An overflow was found in the ixj telephony card driver in Linux kernels prior to 2.4.20. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2002-1574 to this issue. All users are advised to upgrade to these errata packages, which contain backported security patches that corrects these issues. These packages also contain a fix to enhance NFS performance, which was degraded in the last kernel update as part of Update 3.