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ESX Server 3.0.2, Patch ESX-1004216: VMkernel LVM driver Might Stop Responding; VMware VIX API Memory Overflow Vulnerabilities; Snapshot Operations Might Fail Under High I/O Stress (1004216)

Details

Release Date: 06/03/08
Document Last Updated: 06/03/08
 
0784ef70420d28a9a5d6113769f6669a 
Product Versions
ESX Server 3.0.2
Patch Classification
Security
Supersedes
Virtual Machine Migration or Reboot Required
Yes
ESX Server Host Reboot Required
Yes
PRs Fixed
245866, 244321, 259538, 259542, 259544, 259575, 265676, 221701
Affected Hardware
N/A
Affected Software
Unknown
RPMs Included
VMware-esx-vmkernel, VMware-esx-vmx, VMware-esx-apps
Related CVE numbers
CVE-2008-2100

Summary

This patch fixes the following issues:
  • The identity of a LUN can change unexpectedly due to certain disk array configuration events. This patch prevents Logical Volume Manager (LVM) from going to a non-responsive state.
     
  • The VIX API (also known as Vix) is an API that lets users write scripts and programs to manipulate virtual machines. It is high-level, easy to use, and practical for both script developers and application programmers. Buffer overflow vulnerabilities are present in the VIX API. Exploitation of these vulnerabilities might result in code execution on the host system or on the service console in ESX Server from the guest operating system.   
     
    The VIX API can be enabled and disabled using the vix.inGuest.enable setting in the VMware configuration file. This default value for this setting is "disabled." This configuration setting is present in the following products:
     
    • VMware Workstation 6.0.2 and higher
    • VMware ACE 6.0.2 and higher
    • VMware Server 1.06 and higher
    • VMware Fusion 1.1.2 and higher
    • ESX Server 3.0 and higher
    • ESX Server 3.5 and higher
     
    The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2008-2100 to this issue.  To complete the fix, install ESX-1004216, ESX-1004726, and ESX-1004727.
  • While running performance and benchmarking applications like IOzone or MemHog, performing snapshots consolidate operation might cause the virtual machine to stop responding and generates a KERNEL_STACK_INPAGE_ERROR or SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION (77) error.

Solution

Symptoms

Windows virtual machines might stop responding.     
 
Deployment Considerations
 
N/A  

Download Instructions 

Download and verify the patch bundle as follows:

1.      Download patch ESX-1004216 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-1004216.tgz

The md5 checksum output should match the following:

0784ef70420d28a9a5d6113769f6669a  ESX-1004216.tgz
 

7.      Extract the compressed tar archive:

# tar -xvzf ESX-1004216.tgz

8.      Change to the newly created directory, /var/updates/ESX-1004216:

# cd ESX-1004216

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-1004216 update

For example, if the host is called depot:

# esxupdate -r file:///depot/var/updates/ESX-1004216 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-1004216 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;esx302;alertz;urlz

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