GLSA 200611-16: Texinfo: Buffer overflow

http://security.gentoo.org/

Severity:	normal
Title:	Texinfo: Buffer overflow
Date:	11/21/2006
Bugs:	#154316
ID:	200611-16

Synopsis

Texinfo is vulnerable to a buffer overflow that could lead to the execution of arbitrary code.

Background

Texinfo is the official documentation system of the GNU project.

Affected packages

Package	Vulnerable	Unaffected	Architecture(s)
sys-apps/texinfo	< 4.8-r5	>= 4.8-r5	All supported architectures

Description

Miloslav Trmac from Red Hat discovered a buffer overflow in the "readline()" function of texindex.c. The "readline()" function is called by the texi2dvi and texindex commands.

Impact

By enticing a user to open a specially crafted Texinfo file, an attacker could execute arbitrary code with the rights of the user running Texinfo.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All Texinfo users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=sys-apps/texinfo-4.8-r5"

References

CVE-2006-4810

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200611-16.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.