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ESX Server 3.0.1, Patch ESX-1002972: Security Update to the util-linux Package

Details

Release Date: 01/02/08

Document Last Updated: 01/02/08

Download Now
Download Size:
2.0 MB
Download Filename:
ESX-1002972.tgz
md5sum:
59ca4a43f330c5f0b7a55693aa952cdc

Product Versions	ESX Server 3.0.1
Patch Classification	Security
Supersedes	None
Virtual Machine Migration or Reboot Required	Yes
ESX Server Host Reboot Required	Yes
PRs Fixed	219526
Affected Hardware	N/A
Affected Software	Unknown
RPMs Included	util-linux-2.11y-31.24vmw, losetup-2.11y-31.24vmw, mount-2.11y-31.24vmw
Related CVE numbers	CVE-2007-5191

Summary

This patch provides updates to the util-linux package distributed with the service console for ESX Server 3.0.1. The patch addresses an issue where the mount and umount utilities in util-linux call the setuid and setgid functions in the wrong order and do not check the return values, which can allow attackers to gain elevated privileges via a helper application such as mount.nfs.

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2007-5191 to this issue.

Note: These issues only affect the service console network, and are not remote vulnerabilities for ESX Server hosts that have been set up with the security best practices provided by VMware. See http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/726 for more information on security best practices.

Solution

Symptoms

There are no symptoms for this security issue.

Deployment Considerations

N/A

Download Instructions

Download and verify the patch bundle as follows:

1. Download patch ESX-1002972 from http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/vi3_patches.html .

2. Log in to the ESX Server service console as root.

3. Create a local depot directory.

# mkdir -p /var/updates

Note: VMware recommends that you use the updates directory.

4. Change your working directory to /var/updates .

# cd /var/updates

5. Download the tar file into the /var/updates directory.

6. Verify the integrity of the downloaded tar file:

# md5sum ESX-1002972.tgz

The md5 checksum output should match the following:

59ca4a43f330c5f0b7a55693aa952cdc ESX-1002972.tgz

7. Extract the compressed tar archive:

# tar -xvzf ESX-1002972.tgz

8. Change to the newly created directory, /var/updates/ESX-1002972:

# cd ESX-1002972

Installation Instructions

Note: All virtual machines on the host must be either shut down or migrated using VMotion before applying the patch. A reboot of the ESX Server host is required after applying this patch.

After you download and extract the archive, and if you are in the directory that you previously created, use the following command to install the update:

# esxupdate update

To run esxupdate from a different directory, you must specify the bundle path in the command:

# esxupdate -r file://<directory>/ESX-1002972 update

For example, if the host is called depot:

# esxupdate -r file:///depot/var/updates/ESX-1002972 update

During the update process, logs appear on the terminal. You can specify the verbosity of esxupdate logs by using the -v option as shown below.

# esxupdate -v 10 file://<directory>/ESX-1002972 update

For more information how to use esxupdate, see the Patch Management for ESX Server 3 tech note at http://www.vmware.com/pdf/esx3_esxupdate.pdf .

Keywords

esxpatch;esx301;alertz;urlz

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KB Article: 1002972
Updated: Aug 14, 2009

Products:
VMware ESX
Product Versions:
VMware ESX 3.0.x

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