Important: kernel security update

Updated kernel packages that fix a security issue in the Red Hat Enterprise
Linux 5 kernel are now available.

This update has been rated as having important security impact by the Red
Hat Security Response Team.

The Linux kernel handles the basic functions of the operating system.

A flaw was found in the IA32 system call emulation provided on AMD64 and
Intel 64 platforms. An improperly validated 64-bit value could be stored in
the %RAX register, which could trigger an out-of-bounds system call table
access. An untrusted local user could exploit this flaw to run code in the
kernel (ie a root privilege escalation). (CVE-2007-4573).

Red Hat would like to thank Wojciech Purczynski for reporting this issue.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 users are advised to upgrade to these packages,
which contain a backported patch to correct this issue.

Before applying this update, make sure that all previously-released
errata relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via Red Hat Network. Details on how to use
the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at
http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/FAQ_58_10188

294541 - CVE-2007-4573 x86_64 syscall vulnerability

http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2007-4573
http://www.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#important