The yum-plugin-security package allows you to use yum to obtain a list of all of the errata that are available for your system, including security updates. You can also use Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c Cloud Control or management tools such as Katello, Pulp, Red Hat Satellite, Spacewalk, and SUSE Manager to extract and display information about errata.

To install the yum-plugin-security package, enter the following command:

# yum install yum-plugin-security

To list the errata that are available for your system, enter:

# yum updateinfo list
Loaded plugins: refresh-packagekit, rhnplugin, security
ELBA-2012-1518 bugfix         NetworkManager-1:0.8.1-34.el6_3.x86_64
ELBA-2012-1518 bugfix         NetworkManager-glib-1:0.8.1-34.el6_3.x86_64
ELBA-2012-1518 bugfix         NetworkManager-gnome-1:0.8.1-34.el6_3.x86_64
ELBA-2012-1457 bugfix         ORBit2-2.14.17-3.2.el6_3.x86_64
ELBA-2012-1457 bugfix         ORBit2-devel-2.14.17-3.2.el6_3.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0215 Important/Sec. abrt-2.0.8-6.0.1.el6_3.2.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0215 Important/Sec. abrt-addon-ccpp-2.0.8-6.0.1.el6_3.2.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0215 Important/Sec. abrt-addon-kerneloops-2.0.8-6.0.1.el6_3.2.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0215 Important/Sec. abrt-addon-python-2.0.8-6.0.1.el6_3.2.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0215 Important/Sec. abrt-cli-2.0.8-6.0.1.el6_3.2.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0215 Important/Sec. abrt-desktop-2.0.8-6.0.1.el6_3.2.x86_64
...

The output from the command sorts the available errata in order of their IDs, and it also specifies whether each erratum is a security patch (severity/Sec.), a bug fix (bugfix), or a feature enhancement (enhancement). Security patches are listed by their severity: Important, Moderate, or Low.

You can use the --sec-severity option to filter the security errata by severity, for example:

# yum updateinfo list --sec-severity=Moderate
Loaded plugins: refresh-packagekit, rhnplugin, security
ELSA-2013-0269 Moderate/Sec. axis-1.2.1-7.3.el6_3.noarch
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-date-time-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-devel-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-filesystem-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-graph-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-iostreams-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-program-options-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-python-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
...

To list the security errata by their Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) IDs instead of their errata IDs, specify the keyword cves as an argument:

# yum updateinfo list cves
Loaded plugins: refresh-packagekit, rhnplugin, security
 CVE-2012-5659 Important/Sec. abrt-2.0.8-6.0.1.el6_3.2.x86_64
 CVE-2012-5660 Important/Sec. abrt-2.0.8-6.0.1.el6_3.2.x86_64
 CVE-2012-5659 Important/Sec. abrt-addon-ccpp-2.0.8-6.0.1.el6_3.2.x86_64
 CVE-2012-5660 Important/Sec. abrt-addon-ccpp-2.0.8-6.0.1.el6_3.2.x86_64
 CVE-2012-5659 Important/Sec. abrt-addon-kerneloops-2.0.8-6.0.1.el6_3.2.x86_64
 CVE-2012-5660 Important/Sec. abrt-addon-kerneloops-2.0.8-6.0.1.el6_3.2.x86_64
 CVE-2012-5659 Important/Sec. abrt-addon-python-2.0.8-6.0.1.el6_3.2.x86_64
 CVE-2012-5660 Important/Sec. abrt-addon-python-2.0.8-6.0.1.el6_3.2.x86_64
...

Similarly, the keywords bugfix, enhancement, and security filter the list for all bug fixes, enhancements, and security errata.

You can use the --cve option to display the errata that correspond to a specified CVE, for example:

# yum updateinfo list --cve CVE-2012-2677
Loaded plugins: refresh-packagekit, rhnplugin, security
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-date-time-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-devel-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-filesystem-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-graph-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-iostreams-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-program-options-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-python-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-regex-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-serialization-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-signals-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-system-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-test-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-thread-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
ELSA-2013-0668 Moderate/Sec. boost-wave-1.41.0-15.el6_4.x86_64
updateinfo list done

To display more information, specify info instead of list, for example:

# yum updateinfo info --cve CVE-2012-2677
Loaded plugins: refresh-packagekit, rhnplugin, security
===============================================================================
   boost security update
===============================================================================
  Update ID : ELSA-2013-0668
    Release : Oracle Linux 6
       Type : security
     Status : final
     Issued : 2013-03-21
       CVEs : CVE-2012-2677
Description : [1.41.0-15]
            : - Add in explicit dependences between some boost
            :   subpackages
            : 
            : [1.41.0-14]
            : - Build with -fno-strict-aliasing
            : 
            : [1.41.0-13]
            : - In Boost.Pool, be careful not to overflow
            :   allocated chunk size (boost-1.41.0-pool.patch)
            : 
            : [1.41.0-12]
            : - Add an upstream patch that fixes computation of
            :   CRC in zlib streams.
            : - Resolves: #707624
   Severity : Moderate
updateinfo info done

To update all packages for which security-related errata are available to the latest versions of the packages, even if those packages include bug fixes or new features but not security errata, enter:

# yum --security update

To update all packages to the latest versions that contain security errata, ignoring any newer packages that do not contain security errata, enter:

# yum --security update-minimal

To update all kernel packages to the latest versions that contain security errata, enter:

# yum --security update-minimal kernel*

You can also update only those packages that correspond to a CVE or erratum, for example:

# yum update --cve CVE-2012-3954

# yum update --advisory ELSA-2012-1141

For more information, see the yum-security(8) manual page.