kernel-2.6.32-696.23.1.el6

The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux operating
system.

Security Fix(es):

* hw: cpu: speculative execution branch target injection (s390-only)
(CVE-2017-5715, Important)

* hw: cpu: speculative execution bounds-check bypass (s390 and powerpc)
(CVE-2017-5753, Important)

* hw: cpu: speculative execution permission faults handling (powerpc-only)
(CVE-2017-5754)

For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS
score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s)
listed in the References section.

Bug Fixes:

* If a fibre channel (FC) switch was powered down and then powered on again,
the SCSI device driver stopped permanently the SCSI device's request queue.
Consequently, the FC port login failed, leaving the port state as "Bypassed"
instead of "Online", and users had to reboot the operating system. This update
fixes the driver to avoid the permanent stop of the request queue. As a result,
SCSI device now continues working as expected after power cycling the FC switch.
(BZ#1519857)

* Previously, on final close or unlink of a file, the find_get_pages()
function in the memory management sometimes found no pages even if there were
some pages left to save. Consequently, a kernel crash occurred when attempting
to enter the unlink() function. This update fixes the find_get_pages() function
in the memory management code to not return 0 too early. As a result, the kernel
no longer crashes due to this behavior.(BZ#1527811)

* Using IPsec connections under a heavy load could previously lead to a
network performance degradation, especially when using the aesni-intel module.
This update fixes the issue by making the cryptd queue length configurable so
that it can be increased to prevent an overflow and packet drop. As a result,
using IPsec under a heavy load no longer reduces network performance.
(BZ#1527802)

* Previously, a deadlock in the bnx2fc driver caused all adapters to block and
the SCSI error handler to become unresponsive. As a result, data transferring
through the adapter was sometimes blocked. This update fixes bnx2fc, and data
transferring through the adapter is no longer blocked due to this behavior.
(BZ#1523783)

* If an NFSv3 client mounted a subdirectory of an exported file system, a
directory entry to the mount hosting the export was incorrectly held even after
clearing the cache. Consequently, attempts to unmount the subdirectory with the
umount command failed with the EBUSY error. With this update, the underlying
source code has been fixed, and the unmount operation now succeeds as expected
in the described situation. (BZ#1535938)

Users of kernel are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which fix
these bugs. The system must be rebooted for this update to take effect.

CVE-2017-5715
Systems with microprocessors utilizing speculative execution and
indirect branch prediction may allow unauthorized disclosure of
information to an attacker with local user access via a side-channel
analysis.
CVE-2017-5753
Systems with microprocessors utilizing speculative execution and
branch prediction may allow unauthorized disclosure of information to
an attacker with local user access via a side-channel analysis.
CVE-2017-5754
Systems with microprocessors utilizing speculative execution and
indirect branch prediction may allow unauthorized disclosure of
information to an attacker with local user access via a side-channel
analysis of the data cache.