| Description: | The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux operating system.
This update fixes the following security issues:
Information leaks in the Linux kernel could allow a local, unprivileged user to leak kernel memory to user-space. (CVE-2012-6544, CVE-2012-6545, CVE-2013-3222, CVE-2013-3224, CVE-2013-3231, CVE-2013-3235, Low)
An information leak was found in the Linux kernel's POSIX signals implementation. A local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to bypass the Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) security feature. (CVE-2013-0914, Low)
A heap-based buffer overflow in the way the tg3 Ethernet driver parsed the vital product data (VPD) of devices could allow an attacker with physical access to a system to cause a denial of service or, potentially, escalate their privileges. (CVE-2013-1929, Low)
This update also fixes the following bugs:
Previously on system boot, devices with associated Reserved Memory Region Reporting (RMRR) information had lost their RMRR information after they were removed from the static identity (SI) domain. Consequently, a system unexpectedly terminated in an endless loop due to unexpected NMIs triggered by DMA errors. This problem was observed on HP ProLiant Generation 7 (G7) and 8 (Gen8) systems. This update prevents non-USB devices that have RMRR information associated with them from being placed into the SI domain during system boot. HP ProLiant G7 and Gen8 systems that contain devices with the RMRR information now boot as expected. (BZ#957606)
Previously, the kernel's futex wait code used timeouts that had granularity in milliseconds. Also, when passing these timeouts to system calls, the kernel converted the timeouts to "jiffies". Consequently, programs could time out inaccurately which could lead to significant latency problems in certain environments. This update modifies the futex wait code to use a high-resolution timer (hrtimer) so the timeout granularity is now in microseconds. Timeouts are no longer converted to "jiffies" when passed to system calls. Timeouts passed to programs are now accurate and the programs time out as expected. (BZ#958021)
A recent change modified the size of the task_struct structure in the floating point unit (fpu) counter. However, on Intel Itanium systems, this change caused the kernel Application Binary Interface (kABI) to stop working properly when a previously compiled module was loaded, resulting in a kernel panic. With this update the change causing this bug has been reverted so the bug can no longer occur. (BZ#966878)
The cxgb4 driver previously did not clear data structures used for firmware requests. Consequently, when initializing some Chelsio's Terminator 4 (T4) adapters, a probe request could fail because the request was incompatible with the adapter's firmware. This update modifies the cxgb4 driver to properly initialize firmware request structures before sending a request to the firmware and the problem no longer occurs. (BZ#971872)
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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