(RHSA-2016:2074) Important: kernel security and bug fix update

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

Security Fix(es):

• A flaw was found in the Linux kernel’s keyring handling code, where in key_reject_and_link() an uninitialized variable would eventually lead to arbitrary free address which could allow attacker to use a use-after-free style attack. (CVE-2016-4470, Important)

This issue was discovered by David Howells (Red Hat Inc.).

Bug Fix(es):

• Previously, the BUG_ON() signal appeared in the fs_clear_inode() function where the nfs_have_writebacks() function reported a positive value for nfs_inode->npages. As a consequence, a kernel panic occurred. This update performs a serialization by holding the inode i_lock over the check of PagePrivate and locking the request, which fixes this bug. (BZ#1365161)