(RHSA-2005:551) kernel security update

The Linux kernel handles the basic functions of the operating system.

This is a kernel maintenance update to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1.

The following security issues are 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 in ptrace for Itanium architectures was discovered. A local user
could use this flaw to cause a denial of service (crash) or possibly gain
privileges. (CAN-2005-1761)

A race condition in the ia32 compatibility code for the execve system call
was discovered. A local user could use this flaw to cause a denial of
service (kernel panic) or possibly gain privileges. (CAN-2005-1768)

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:

• “busy inodes after unmount” error on NFS volumes
• Establish 64-bit limits even for 32-bit threads
• Fix a race condition in __get_lease
• Fix error in IDE disk accounting. This last fix causes IO accounting
  to occur only on READ and WRITE operations. This fixes several bugs
  in various accounting and statistic utilities.
• Fix kswapd/dquot deadlock bug
• Fix loop control bug in do_shmem_file_read

All Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 Itanium users are advised to upgrade their
kernels to the packages associated with their machine configurations as
listed in this erratum.