Recently committed to the 2.6 kernel were enhancements from Al Viro that enabled the Sparse source code checking tool to check for a certain class kernel bugs. This class of bugs can lead to privilege escalation vulnerabilities. Some of these fixes also apply to the 2.4 kernel and have been backported. Specifically affecting the RHEL 2.1AS/WS/ES kernels: 1. Direct write to a user-supplied address which can lead to privilege escalation in the mpu401 and pss sound drivers. 2. Direct read of a user-supplied address can cause information leak from kernel memory in the airo wireless driver, and the mpu401 and pss sound drivers. 3. Deadlock in the msnd sound driver.
An errata has been issued which should help the problem described in this bug report. This report is therefore being closed with a resolution of ERRATA. For more information on the solution and/or where to find the updated files, please follow the link below. You may reopen this bug report if the solution does not work for you. http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2004-260.html