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Home >> Browse Vulnerability Assessment Database >> SuSE Local Security Checks >> SuSE-SA:2003:049: Linux Kernel

Vulnerability Assessment Details

SuSE-SA:2003:049: Linux Kernel

Vulnerability Assessment Summary
Check for the version of the Linux Kernel package

Detailed Explanation for this Vulnerability Assessment

The remote host is missing the patch for the advisory SuSE-SA:2003:049 (Linux Kernel).

This security update fixes a serious vulnerability in the Linux
kernel. A missing bounds check in the brk() system call permited
processes to request memory beyond the maximum size permited for tasks,
causing kernel memory to be mapped into the process' address space.
This permited local attackers to obtain super user rights.

An exploit for this vulnerability is circulating in the wild, and
has been used to compromise OpenSource development servers.

There is no temporary workaround for this bug.

This update also fixes several other security issues in the
kernel

- race condition with files opened via O_DIRECT which could
be exploited to read disk blocks randomly. This could include
blocks of previously deleted files with sensitive content.
- don't permit users to send signals to kmod
- when reading the RTC, don't leak kernel stack data to user space

Solution : http://www.suse.de/security/2003_049_kernel.html
Network Security Threat Level: High

Networks Security ID: 9138

Vulnerability Assessment Copyright: This script is Copyright (C) 2004 Tenable Network Security

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