kernel-2.6.18-371.3.AXS3

The kernel package contains the Linux kernel (vmlinuz), the core of any Linux operating system. The kernel handles the basic functions of the operating system: memory allocation, process allocation, device input and output, etc.

Security issues fixed with this release:

• CVE-2012-4398
The __request_module function in kernel/kmod.c in the Linux kernel before 3.4 does not set a certain killable attribute, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via a crafted application.

• CVE-2012-6638
The tcp_rcv_state_process function in net/ipv4/tcp_input.c in the Linux kernel before 3.2.24 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (kernel resource consumption) via a flood of SYN+FIN TCP packets, a different vulnerability than CVE-2012-2663.

• CVE-2013-2888
Multiple array index errors in drivers/hid/hid-core.c in the Human Interface Device (HID) subsystem in the Linux kernel through 3.11 allow physically proximate attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (heap memory corruption) via a crafted device that provides an invalid Report ID.

• CVE-2013-0343
The ipv6_create_tempaddr function in net/ipv6/addrconf.c in the Linux kernel through 3.8 does not properly handle problems with the generation of IPv6 temporary addresses, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (excessive retries and address-generation outage), and consequently obtain sensitive information, via ICMPv6 Router Advertisement (RA) messages.

• CVE-2013-4299
Interpretation conflict in drivers/md/dm-snap-persistent.c in the Linux kernel through 3.11.6 allows remote authenticated users to obtain sensitive information or modify data via a crafted mapping to a snapshot block device.

• CVE-2013-4345
Off-by-one error in the get_prng_bytes function in crypto/ansi_cprng.c in the Linux kernel through 3.11.4 makes it easier for context-dependent attackers to defeat cryptographic protection mechanisms via multiple requests for small amounts of data, leading to improper management of the state of the consumed data.

• CVE-2013-4368
The outs instruction emulation in Xen 3.1.x, 4.2.x, 4.3.x, and earlier, when using FS: or GS: segment override, uses an uninitialized variable as a segment base, which allows local 64-bit PV guests to obtain sensitive information (hypervisor stack content) via unspecified vectors related to stale data in a segment register.

• CVE-2013-4355
Xen 4.3.x and earlier does not properly handle certain errors, which allows local HVM guests to obtain hypervisor stack memory via a (1) port or (2) memory mapped I/O write or (3) other unspecified operations related to addresses without associated memory.

• CVE-2013-4494
Xen before 4.1.x, 4.2.x, and 4.3.x does not take the page_alloc_lock and grant_table.lock in the same order, which allows local guest administrators with access to multiple vcpus to cause a denial of service (host deadlock) via unspecified vectors.

• CVE-2013-2929
The Linux kernel before 3.12.2 does not properly use the get_dumpable function, which allows local users to bypass intended ptrace restrictions or obtain sensitive information from IA64 scratch registers via a crafted application, related to kernel/ptrace.c and arch/ia64/include/asm/processor.h.

• CVE-2013-4483
The ipc_rcu_putref function in ipc/util.c in the Linux kernel before 3.10 does not properly manage a reference count, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (memory consumption or system crash) via a crafted application.

• CVE-2013-4554
Xen 3.0.3 through 4.1.x (possibly 4.1.6.1), 4.2.x (possibly 4.2.3), and 4.3.x (possibly 4.3.1) does not properly prevent access to hypercalls, which allows local guest users to gain privileges via a crafted application running in ring 1 or 2.

• CVE-2013-6381
Buffer overflow in the qeth_snmp_command function in drivers/s390/net/qeth_core_main.c in the Linux kernel through 3.12.1 allows local users to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via an SNMP ioctl call with a length value that is incompatible with the command-buffer size.

• CVE-2013-6383
The aac_compat_ioctl function in drivers/scsi/aacraid/linit.c in the Linux kernel before 3.11.8 does not require the CAP_SYS_RAWIO capability, which allows local users to bypass intended access restrictions via a crafted ioctl call.

• CVE-2013-6885
The microcode on AMD 16h 00h through 0Fh processors does not properly handle the interaction between locked instructions and write-combined memory types, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (system hang) via a crafted application, aka the errata 793 issue.

• CVE-2013-7263
The Linux kernel before 3.12.4 updates certain length values before ensuring that associated data structures have been initialized, which allows local users to obtain sensitive information from kernel stack memory via a (1) recvfrom, (2) recvmmsg, or (3) recvmsg system call, related to net/ipv4/ping.c, net/ipv4/raw.c, net/ipv4/udp.c, net/ipv6/raw.c, and net/ipv6/udp.c.

Fixed bugs:

• Re-ordered the tasks in the RPC wait queue to fix a race condition between the rpc_wake_up_task() and rpc_wake_up_status() functions introduced by a recent modification to the sunrpc code.

• Previously, running a background process on a GFS2 file system could trigger a glock recursion error leading to a kernel panic. This has been fixed and readpage operations do not attempt to take a glock that was already held any longer.

• Fixed a kernel panic that happened when the kernel dereferenced a NULL pointer; this was due to an incomplete backport to the IUCV code.

• Previously, GFS2 prevented glock work queues from freeing glock-related memory while the glock memory shrinker queued a large number of demote requests. Because of this bug, glock work queues became overloaded and resulted in a high CPU usage rendering GFS2 file systems unresponsive for a while. This has been partially fixed: this still happens but only on extremely high work loads.

• With the recent addition of the NT LAN Manager Security Support Provider (NTLMSSP) authentication mechanism, a regression was introduced resulting in the impossibility to mount multiple SMB shares with different credentials to the same server. This has been fixed.

• The igb driver now uses a a 32-bit mask as expected, instead of the previous 16-bit mask that disrupted the flow control a network device.

• Previously, when a kernel panic occurred on a system utilizing IPMI without Kdump being set up, it could trigger a second kernel panic. This has been fixed.

Enhancement:

• It is now possible to change the 60 seconds timeout for SCSI task management commands within the range from 5 to 180 seconds: modify the "lpfc_task_mgmt_tmo" parameter for the lpfc driver.
The system must be rebooted for this update to take effect.