GLSA 200507-29: pstotext: Remote execution of arbitrary code

http://security.gentoo.org/

Severity:	normal
Title:	pstotext: Remote execution of arbitrary code
Date:	07/31/2005
Bugs:	#100245
ID:	200507-29

Synopsis

pstotext contains a vulnerability which can potentially result in the execution of arbitrary code.

Background

pstotext is a program that works with GhostScript to extract plain text from PostScript and PDF files.

Affected packages

Package	Vulnerable	Unaffected	Architecture(s)
app-text/pstotext	< 1.8g-r1	>= 1.8g-r1	All supported architectures

Description

Max Vozeler reported that pstotext calls the GhostScript interpreter on untrusted PostScript files without specifying the -dSAFER option.

Impact

An attacker could craft a malicious PostScript file and entice a user to run pstotext on it, resulting in the execution of arbitrary commands with the permissions of the user running pstotext.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All pstotext users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=app-text/pstotext-1.8g-r1"

References

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200507-29.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.