| Description: | The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux operating system.
Security fixes:
a system with SELinux enforced was more permissive in allowing local users in the unconfined_t domain to map low memory areas even if the mmap_min_addr restriction was enabled. This could aid in the local exploitation of NULL pointer dereference bugs. (CVE-2009-2695, Important)
a NULL pointer dereference flaw was found in the eCryptfs implementation in the Linux kernel. A local attacker could use this flaw to cause a local denial of service or escalate their privileges. (CVE-2009-2908, Important)
a flaw was found in the NFSv4 implementation. The kernel would do an unnecessary permission check after creating a file. This check would usually fail and leave the file with the permission bits set to random values. Note: This is a server-side only issue. (CVE-2009-3286, Important)
a NULL pointer dereference flaw was found in each of the following functions in the Linux kernel: pipe_read_open(), pipe_write_open(), and pipe_rdwr_open(). When the mutex lock is not held, the i_pipe pointer could be released by other processes before it is used to update the pipe's reader and writer counters. This could lead to a local denial of service or privilege escalation. (CVE-2009-3547, Important)
a flaw was found in the Realtek r8169 Ethernet driver in the Linux kernel. pci_unmap_single() presented a memory leak that could lead to IOMMU space exhaustion and a system crash. An attacker on the local network could abuse this flaw by using jumbo frames for large amounts of network traffic. (CVE-2009-3613, Important)
missing initialization flaws were found in the Linux kernel. Padding data in several core network structures was not initialized properly before being sent to user-space. These flaws could lead to information leaks. (CVE-2009-3228, Moderate)
Bug fixes:
with network bonding in the "balance-tlb" or "balance-alb" mode, the primary setting for the primary slave device was lost when said device was brought down. Bringing the slave back up did not restore the primary setting. (BZ#517971)
some faulty serial device hardware caused systems running the kernel-xen kernel to take a very long time to boot. (BZ#524153)
a caching bug in nfs_readdir() may have caused NFS clients to see duplicate files or not see all files in a directory. (BZ#526960)
the RHSA-2009:1243 update removed the mpt_msi_enable option, preventing certain scripts from running. This update adds the option back. (BZ#526963)
an iptables rule with the recent module and a hit count value greater than the ip_pkt_list_tot parameter (the default is 20), did not have any effect over packets, as the hit count could not be reached. (BZ#527434)
a check has been added to the IPv4 code to make sure that rt is not NULL, to help prevent future bugs in functions that call ip_append_data() from being exploitable. (BZ#527436)
a kernel panic occurred in certain conditions after reconfiguring a tape drive's block size. (BZ#528133)
when using the Linux Virtual Server (LVS) in a master and backup configuration, and propagating active connections on the master to the backup, the connection timeout value on the backup was hard-coded to 180 seconds, meaning connection information on the backup was soon lost. This could prevent the successful failover of connections. The timeout value can now be set via "ipvsadm --set". (BZ#528645)
a bug in nfs4_do_open_expired() could have caused the reclaimer thread on an NFSv4 client to enter an infinite loop. (BZ#529162)
MSI interrupts may not have been delivered for r8169 based network cards that have MSI interrupts enabled. This bug only affected certain systems. (BZ#529366)
Users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported patches to correct these issues. The system must be rebooted for this update to take effect.
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