A malformed elf executable can a system to freeze or crash. See Bug 142965 for details. This bug exists in RHEL2.1 as well as RHEL3, and is being tracked here.
A fix for this problem has just been committed to the RHEL2.1 E7 patch pool (in kernel version 2.4.9-e.58)
An advisory 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-2005-016.html