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Re: [DSA-403-1] Kernel update?



Bill Moseley wrote:
> Once again I'm not clear about a security posting.
> 
> Wichert's post about the Debian hacked machines and the integer overflow
> in the Kernel talks about the 2.4.18 source package being updated.
> But my machines are all using the package:
> 
>   kernel-source-2.4.20 - Linux kernel source for version 2.4.20 with Debian patches

That is probably the kernel from woody-proposed-updates and not from
woody itself.  You are affectively running a backport.  I may even
have been the one to have suggested that to you some time ago.  It
sounds very familiar.  Sorry that it is now an issue to resolve.
Fortunately this is pretty easy.

The woody-proposed-updates is just an area of backports which the
maintainer feels is a candidate for a update into woody.  That is
subject to the release manager's approval.  The rules for that are
strict and many things in the proposed updates area do not meet those
rules.  So I would not point to there and upgrade everything, for
example.  But using the 2.4.20 kernel from there has been convenient.

> So how would I get this patch?

Of course this is so new that 2.4.23 does not even exist in unstable
at this moment!  The latest I see there is 2.4.22.  But I imagine one
will appear there shortly.  If you can be patient then I would wait a
day.  Through unstable is the easiest way for these updates to flow.

Unfortunately without a 2.4.23 in unstable it won't be available other
places such as the backports (with the Debian patches) either.  Until
then you have a couple of options.

If fixing this vulnerability is really an immediate need and you want
the least hassle then install the fixed 2.4.18 versions as announced
in the DSA, boot that and remove the vulnerable 2.4.20 versions.  But
if you your original reason for going to 2.4.20 was that you needed
the later drivers (a common case) then going back to 2.4.18 won't be
good.  It would leave your system unusable.  In which case you will
need to move forward, ever forward to 2.4.23.

If you cannot wait then you would need to compile the 2.4.23 kernel
yourself.  That was released only three days ago and has not
propagated through to Debian unstable yet.  Of course some people
always build their own kernels.  I used to be one of those but now I
try to reuse other people's work as much as possible.  But if you want
to compile your own kernel then download the source from kernel.org,
use make-kpkg and follow the directions from
http://newbiedoc.sourceforge.net/system/kernel-pkg.html.

Of course you might like the Debian patches.  If you can wait, it has
only been three days, then I would wait for 2.4.23 to become available
in unstable with all of the patches applied then use make-kpkg to
build it for woody.  Or lobby the maintainer to do that and to put a
copy in woody-proposed-updates since that is so convenient.

Bob

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