kernel security and bug fix update (RHSA-2010-0046)

Original Release Date: February 3, 2010
Last Revised: November 4, 2010
Number: ASA-2010-026
Risk Level: Medium
Advisory Version: 3.0
Advisory Status: Final

1. Overview:

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

Security fixes:

* an array index error was found in the gdth driver. A local user could send a specially-crafted IOCTL request that would cause a denial of service or, possibly, privilege escalation. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-3080 to this issue.

* a flaw was found in the FUSE implementation. When a system is low on memory, fuse_put_request() could dereference an invalid pointer, possibly leading to a local denial of service or privilege escalation. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-4021 to this issue.

* a deficiency was discovered in the fasync_helper() implementation. This could allow a local, unprivileged user to leverage a use-after-free of locked, asynchronous file descriptors to cause a denial of service or privilege escalation. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-4141 to this issue.

* it was reported that the RHSA-2009:1243 update introduced two flaws in the routing implementation. If an attacker was able to cause a large enough number of collisions in the routing hash table (via specially-crafted packets) for the emergency route flush to trigger, a deadlock could occur. Secondly, if the kernel routing cache was disabled, an uninitialized pointer would be left behind after a route lookup, leading to a kernel panic. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-4272 to this issue.

* the RHSA-2009:0225 update introduced a rewrite attack flaw in the do_coredump() function. A local attacker able to guess the file name a process is going to dump its core to, prior to the process crashing, could use this flaw to append data to the dumped core file. This issue only affects systems that have "/proc/sys/fs/suid_dumpable" set to 2 (the default value is 0). The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2006-6304 to this issue.

The fix for CVE-2006-6304 changes the expected behavior: With suid_dumpable set to 2, the core file will not be recorded if the file already exists. For example, core files will not be overwritten on subsequent crashes of processes whose core files map to the same name.

* an information leak was found in the Linux kernel. On AMD64 systems, 32-bit processes could access and read certain 64-bit registers by temporarily switching themselves to 64-bit mode. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-2910 to this issue.

* the RHBA-2008:0314 update introduced N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) support in the qla2xxx driver, resulting in two new sysfs pseudo files, "/sys/class/scsi_host/[a qla2xxx host]/vport_create" and "vport_delete". These two files were world-writable by default, allowing a local user to change SCSI host attributes. This flaw only affects systems using the qla2xxx driver and NPIV capable hardware. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-3556 to this issue.

* permission issues were found in the megaraid_sas driver. The "dbg_lvl" and "poll_mode_io" files on the sysfs file system ("/sys/") had world-writable permissions. This could allow local, unprivileged users to change the behavior of the driver. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the names CVE-2009-3889 and CVE-2009-3939 to these issues.

* a NULL pointer dereference flaw was found in the firewire-ohci driver used for OHCI compliant IEEE 1394 controllers. A local, unprivileged user with access to /dev/fw* files could issue certain IOCTL calls, causing a denial of service or privilege escalation. The FireWire modules are blacklisted by default, and if enabled, only root has access to the files noted above by default. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-4138 to this issue.

* a buffer overflow flaw was found in the hfs_bnode_read() function in the HFS file system implementation. This could lead to a denial of service if a user browsed a specially-crafted HFS file system, for example, by running "ls". The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-4020 to this issue.

More information about these vulnerabilities can be found in the security advisory issued by RedHat Linux:

2. Avaya System Products with RHEL5 kernel installed:

Product: Affected Version(s): Risk Level: Actions:
Avaya Aura™ Application Enablement Services 5.2, 5.2.1 Medium Upgrade to Application Enablement Services 5.2.2 or later.
Avaya Aura™ Communication Manager 5.2.x Medium Upgrade to Communication Manager 6.0, or if remaining on 5.x, upgrade to Communication Manager 5.2.1 and then install Kernel Service Pack #2 or later as described in PCN 1692A.
Avaya Aura™ SIP Enablement Services 5.2.x Medium Upgrade to SIP Enablement Services 5.2.1 and then install Kernel Service Pack #2 or later as described in PCN 1692A.
Avaya Voice Portal 5.0 Medium Upgrade to Voice Portal 5.1 or later.
Avaya Aura™ System Manager 5.2, 6.0 Medium Upgrade to System Manager 6.0 SP1 or later.
Avaya Aura™ Session Manager 1.1, 5.2 Medium Upgrade to Session Manager 6.0 or later.
Avaya Aura™ System Platform 1.1 Medium Upgrade to System Platform 6.0 or later.

Recommended Actions for System Products:
Avaya strongly recommends that customers follow networking and security best practices by implementing firewalls, ACLs, physical security or other appropriate access restrictions. Though Avaya believes such restrictions should always be in place; risk to Avaya's product and the surrounding network from this potential vulnerability may be mitigated by ensuring these practices are implemented until such time as a product action is applied. Further restrictions as deemed necessary based on the customer's security policies may be required during this interim period.

3. Avaya Software-Only Products:

Avaya software-only products operate on general-purpose operating systems. Occasionally vulnerabilities may be discovered in the underlying operating system or applications that come with the operating system. These vulnerabilities often do not impact the software-only product directly but may threaten the integrity of the underlying platform.

In the case of this advisory Avaya software-only products are not affected by the vulnerability directly but the underlying Linux platform may be. Customers should determine on which Linux operating system the product was installed and then follow that vendor's guidance.

Product: Actions:
CVLAN Depending on the Operating System provided by customers, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the CVLAN application.
Avaya Integrated Management Suite (IMS) Depending on the Operating System provided by customers, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the IMS application.
Voice Portal Depending on the Operating System provided by customers, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the Voice Portal application.
Avaya Aura™ Application Enablement Services 4.x Depending on the Operating System provided by customers, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the AES application.

Recommended Actions for Software-Only Products:
In the event that the affected package is installed, Avaya recommends that customers follow recommended actions supplied by RedHat Linux.

4. Additional Information:

Additional information may also be available via the Avaya support website and through your Avaya account representative. Please contact your Avaya product support representative, or dial 1-800-242-2121, with any questions.

5. Disclaimer:

ALL INFORMATION IS BELIEVED TO BE CORRECT AT THE TIME OF PUBLICATION AND IS PROVIDED "AS IS". AVAYA INC., ON BEHALF ITSELF AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES AND AFFILIATES (HEREINAFTER COLLECTIVELY REFERRED TO AS "AVAYA"), DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND FURTHERMORE, AVAYA MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES THAT THE STEPS RECOMMENDED WILL ELIMINATE SECURITY OR VIRUS THREATS TO CUSTOMERS' SYSTEMS. IN NO EVENT SHALL AVAYA BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE INFORMATION OR RECOMMENDED ACTIONS PROVIDED HEREIN, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, STATUTORY, CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF AVAYA HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE DOES NOT AFFECT THE SUPPORT AGREEMENTS IN PLACE FOR AVAYA PRODUCTS. SUPPORT FOR AVAYA PRODUCTS CONTINUES TO BE EXECUTED AS PER EXISTING AGREEMENTS WITH AVAYA.

6. Revision History:

V 1.0 - February 3, 2010 - Initial Statement issued.
V 2.0 - October 20, 2010 - Updated affected version for AES & SMGR, updated actions for AES, CM, SES, SMGR, SM, SP.
V 3.0 - November 4, 2010 - Updated VP actions and changed ASA status to final.

Send information regarding any discovered security problems with Avaya products to either the contact noted in the product's documentation or securityalerts@avaya.com.

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