GLSA 200611-01: Screen: UTF-8 character handling vulnerability

http://security.gentoo.org/

Severity:	high
Title:	Screen: UTF-8 character handling vulnerability
Date:	11/03/2006
Bugs:	#152770
ID:	200611-01

Synopsis

Screen contains an error in its UTF-8 character handling code that would allow a remote Denial of Service or possibly the remote execution of arbitrary code.

Background

Screen is a full-screen window manager that multiplexes a physical terminal between several processes, typically interactive shells.

Affected packages

Package	Vulnerable	Unaffected	Architecture(s)
app-misc/screen	< 4.0.3	>= 4.0.3	All supported architectures

Description

cstone and Richard Felker discovered a flaw in Screen's UTF-8 combining character handling.

Impact

The vulnerability can be exploited by writing a special string of characters to a Screen window. A remote attacker could cause a Denial of Service or possibly execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running Screen through a program being run inside a Screen session, such as an IRC client or a mail client.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All Screen users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=app-misc/screen-4.0.3"

References

CVE-2006-4573

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200611-01.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.