Updated xinetd packages fix denial-of-service attacks and other bugs

Updated xinetd packages for Red Hat Linux on IBM iSeries and pSeries
systems that fix a security vulnerability and two denial of service
vulnerabilities are now avaliable.

Xinetd is a 'master server' that is used to to accept service connection
requests and start the appropriate servers.

Versions of Xinetd prior to 2.3.7 leak file descriptors for the signal
pipe to services that are launched by xinetd. This could allow an attacker
to execute a DoS attack via the pipe. This issue is entered in the Common
Vulnerabilities and Exposures project with the name CVE-2002-0871.

Because of a programming error, memory was allocated and never freed if a
connection was refused for any reason. An attacker could exploit this flaw
to crash the xinetd server, rendering all services it controls unavaliable.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project has assigned the name
CAN-2003-0211 to this issue.

In addition, other flaws in xinetd could cause incorrect operation in
certain unusual server configurations.

All users of xinetd are advised to update to the packages listed in this
erratum, which contain an upgrade to xinetd-2.3.11 and are not vulnerable
to these issues.

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

To update all RPMs for your particular architecture, run:

rpm -Fvh [filenames]

where [filenames] is a list of the RPMs you wish to upgrade. Only those
RPMs which are currently installed will be updated. Those RPMs which are
not installed but included in the list will not be updated. Note that you
can also use wildcards (*.rpm) if your current directory *only* contains the
desired RPMs.

Please note that this update is also available via Red Hat Network. Many
people find this an easier way to apply updates. To use Red Hat Network,
launch the Red Hat Update Agent with the following command:

up2date

This will start an interactive process that will result in the appropriate
RPMs being upgraded on your system.

http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2002-0871
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2003-0211

DoS