Security Advisory (MDKSA-2004:029): kernel

aru · April 14, 2004

MandrakeSoft Security Advisory MDKSA-2004:029 : kernel

April 14th, 2004

Updated kernel packages fix multiple vulnerabilities

A vulnerability was found in the R128 DRI driver by Alan Cox. This could allow local privilege escalation. The previous fix, in MDKSA-2004:015 only partially corrected the problem; the full fix is included (CAN-2004-0003).

A local root vulnerability was discovered in the isofs component of the Linux kernel by iDefense. This vulnerability can be triggered by performing a directory listing on a maliciously constructed ISO filesystem, or attempting to access a file via a malformed symlink on such a filesystem (CAN-2004-0109).

An information leak was discovered in the ext3 filesystem code by Solar Designer. It was discovered that when creating or writing to an ext3 filesystem, some amount of other in-memory data gets written to the device. The data is not the file's contents, not something on the same filesystem, or even anything that was previously in a file at all. To obtain this data, a user needs to read the raw device (CAN-2004-0177).

The same vulnerability was also found in the XFS filesystem code (CAN-2004-0133) and the JFS filesystem code (CAN-2004-0181).

Finally, a vulnerability in the OSS code for SoundBlaster 16 devices was discovered by Andreas Kies. It is possible for local users with access to the sound system to crash the machine (CAN-2004-0178).

The provided packages are patched to fix these vulnerabilities. All users are encouraged to upgrade to these updated kernels.

To update your kernel, please follow the directions located at:

http://www.mandrakesecure.net/en/kernelupdate.php

The released versions of Mandrake GNU/Linux affected are: