(RHSA-2011:0303) Moderate: kernel security and bug fix update

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

This update fixes the following security issues:

• A flaw was found in the Linux kernel’s garbage collector for AF_UNIX
  sockets. A local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to trigger a
  denial of service (out-of-memory condition). (CVE-2010-4249, Moderate)

• A flaw was found in the Linux kernel’s networking subsystem. If the
  number of packets received exceeded the receiver’s buffer limit, they were
  queued in a backlog, consuming memory, instead of being discarded. A remote
  attacker could abuse this flaw to cause a denial of service (out-of-memory
  condition). (CVE-2010-4251, Moderate)

• A missing initialization flaw was found in the ethtool_get_regs()
  function in the Linux kernel’s ethtool IOCTL handler. A local user who has
  the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability could use this flaw to cause an information
  leak. (CVE-2010-4655, Low)

Red Hat would like to thank Vegard Nossum for reporting CVE-2010-4249, and
Kees Cook for reporting CVE-2010-4655.

This update also fixes several bugs. Documentation for these bug fixes will
be available shortly from the Technical Notes document linked to in the
References section.

Users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported
patches to correct these issues, and fix the bugs noted in the Technical
Notes. The system must be rebooted for this update to take effect.