Vulnerability Assessment & Network Security Forums

If through a vulnerability assessment, a network security issue is detected for the vulnerability below, applying the appropriate security patches in a timely matter is very important. If you have detected that your system has already been compromised, following CERT's Network Security recovery document will assist with recommended steps for system recovery.

Home >> Browse Vulnerability Assessment Database >> Debian Local Security Checks >> [DSA047] DSA-047-1 kernel

Vulnerability Assessment Details

[DSA047] DSA-047-1 kernel

Vulnerability Assessment Summary
DSA-047-1 kernel

Detailed Explanation for this Vulnerability Assessment

The kernels used in Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 have been found to have
multiple security problems. This is a list of problems based
on the 2.2.19 release notes as found on
http://www.linux.org.uk/:

binfmt_misc used user pages directly
the CPIA driver had an off-by-one error in the buffer code which made
it possible for users to write into kernel memory
the CPUID and MSR drivers had a problem in the module unloading code
which could cause a system crash if they were set to automatically load
and unload (please note that Debian does not automatically unload kernel
modules)
There was a possible hang in the classifier code
The getsockopt and setsockopt system calls did not handle sign bits
correctly which made a local DoS and other attacks possible
The sysctl system call did not handle sign bits correctly which permited
a user to write in kernel memory
ptrace/exec races that could give a local user extra rights
possible abuse of a boundary case in the sockfilter code
SYSV shared memory code could overwrite recently freed memory which might
cause problems
The packet length checks in the masquerading code were a bit lax
(probably not exploitable)
Some x86 assembly bugs caused the wrong number of bytes to be copied.
A local user could deadlock the kernel due to bugs in the UDP port
allocation.

All these problems are fixed in the 2.2.19 kernel, and it is highly
recommend that you upgrade machines to this kernel.

Please note that kernel upgrades are not done automatically. You will
have to explicitly tell the packaging system to install the right kernel
for your system.

Solution : http://www.debian.org/security/2001/dsa-047
Network Security Threat Level: High

Networks Security ID: 2529

Vulnerability Assessment Copyright: This script is (C) 2005 Michel Arboi

Cables, Connectors