Red Hat, Inc. today announced the availability of Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 3 Update 3. Accessible through Red Hat Network,
the update features several security enhancements, which were
originally targeted for delivery in early 2005, several months
ahead of schedule. With this update Red Hat demonstrates the
ongoing value delivered via a Red Hat Enterprise Linux
subscription.
“The open source development model coupled with the subscription
business model creates a unique combination for customers in that
features, upgrades and updates are delivered in real-time,” said
Brian Stevens, vice president of Operating Systems Development at
Red Hat. “Rapid innovation with consistent delivery means that
customers are able to benefit from performance gains and security
enhancements as they become available.”
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 was released in Fall, 2003. To
provide the best mix of technology and stability, Red Hat created
the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 products using a hybrid kernel
approach: features from the Linux 2.6 kernel that would be of most
value to commercial/enterprise customers and ISVs were backported
for use with the latest and most stable Linux 2.4 kernel. As a
result of this approach Red Hat Enterprise Linux products are
provided with kernels that are highly stable and also deliver many
of the performance and scalability features of the 2.6 kernel.
Since the initial release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux,
subscribers have received regular technology updates such as SATA
device support, Intel EM64T support, and the IA-32 execution layer
for Intel Itanium 2 processors. The latest update, Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 3 Update 3 has a focus on security.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 3 security features include:
Exec-shield and PIE (Position Independent Executable) features,
which provide protection against stack, buffer or function pointer
overflows, and against other types of security exploits that rely
on overwriting data structures in memory.
NX (No Execute) support has been extended from the Intel
Itanium2 processer to include Intel x86, Intel EM64T and AMD64
processors. NX technology restricts execution of program code in
specific areas of memory such as the stack or the heap, preventing
many common buffer overflow security vulnerabilities.
These features further enhance the security of Red Hat
Enterprise Linux systems, significantly reducing the ability of
hackers to trigger the execution of compromising code.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 3 also provides numerous other
enhancements, including support for IBM POWER5 servers, extensive
new driver support, and miscellaneous bug fixes.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 3 is available now.
Subscribers can access Red Hat Network immediately to apply the
update to their systems. For more information or to become a
subscriber, please visit http://www.redhat.com or call
866-2-REDHAT.