CESA-2005:529: kernel security update

Description

Updated kernel packages that fix a number of security issues as well as other bugs are now available for CentOS Linux 2.1 (32 bit architectures) This update has been rated as having important security impact by the CentOS Security Response Team.

The Linux kernel handles the basic functions of the operating system. This is a kernel maintenance update to CentOS Linux 2.1. The following security issues were corrected: A flaw between execve() syscall handling and core dumping of ELF-format executables allowed local unprivileged users to cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly gain privileges. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project has assigned the name CAN-2005-1263 to this issue. A flaw when freeing a pointer in load_elf_library was discovered. A local user could potentially use this flaw to cause a denial of service (crash). (CAN-2005-0749) The Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) driver did not properly check the DMA lock, which could allow remote attackers or local users to cause a denial of service (X Server crash) or possibly modify the video output. (CAN-2004-1056) A flaw in the moxa serial driver could allow a local user to perform privileged operations such as replacing the firmware. (CAN-2005-0504) The following bug fixes were also made: - Fix a race condition that can cause a panic in __get_lease() - Fix a race condition that can cause a panic when reading /proc/mdstat - Fix incorrect ide accounting - Prevent non-root users from reloading moxa driver firmware - Fix a null-pointer-dereference bug in rpciod - Fix legacy-usb handoff for certain IBM platforms - Fix a bug that caused busy inodes after unmount - Provide an additional fix for a memory leak in scsi_scan_single. - Fix a potential kswapd/dquot deadlock. - Fix a potential local DoS in shmemfs. - Fix a random poolsize vulnerability. CentOS Linux 2.1 users are advised to upgrade their kernels to the packages associated with their machine configurations as listed in this erratum.