Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Kernel Bug Fix Update

Updated kernel packages that fix several bugs, while adding an enhancement are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.

The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux operating system.

These updated packages fix the following bugs:

* the GNU libc stub resolver is a minimal resolver that works with Domain Name System (DNS) servers to satisfy requests from applications for names. The GNU libc stub resolver did not specify a source UDP port, and therefore used predictable port numbers. This could have make DNS spoofing attacks easier.

The Linux kernel has been updated to implement random UDP source ports where none are specified by an application. This allows applications, such as those using the GNU libc stub resolver, to use random UDP source ports, helping to make DNS spoofing attacks harder.

* A set of patches detailed as "sys_times: Fix system unresponsiveness during many concurrent invocation of sys_times()" and "Minor code cleanup to sys_times() call" introduced regression which caused a kernel panic under high load. These patches were reverted in the current release.

* A process could hang in an uninterruptible state while accessing application data files due to race condition in asynchronous direct I/O system calls.

* USB devices would not be detected on a PowerEdge R805 system. USB devices are now able to be detected on the aforementioned system with this update.

Further, these updated packages add the following enhancement:

* Added HDMI support for AMD ATI chipsets RS780, RV610, RV620, RV630, RV635, RV670 and RV770.