GLSA 200408-10: gv: Exploitable Buffer Overflow

http://security.gentoo.org/

Severity:	normal
Title:	gv: Exploitable Buffer Overflow
Date:	08/12/2004
Bugs:	#59385
ID:	200408-10

Synopsis

gv contains an exploitable buffer overflow that allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code.

Background

gv is a PostScript and PDF viewer for X which provides a user interface for the ghostscript interpreter.

Affected packages

Package	Vulnerable	Unaffected	Architecture(s)
app-text/gv	<= 3.5.8-r3	>= 3.5.8-r4	All supported architectures

Description

gv contains a buffer overflow vulnerability where an unsafe sscanf() call is used to interpret PDF and PostScript files.

Impact

By enticing a user to view a malformed PDF or PostScript file an attacker could execute arbitrary code with the permissions of the user running gv.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the latest available version of gv.

Resolution

All gv users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge sync

    # emerge -pv ">=app-text/gv-3.5.8-r4"
    # emerge ">=app-text/gv-3.5.8-r4"

References

CAN-2002-0838

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200408-10.xml

Concerns?

Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the confidentiality and security of our users machines is of utmost importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to security@gentoo.org or alternatively, you may file a bug at https://bugs.gentoo.org.