GLSA 200701-06: w3m: Format string vulnerability

Severity:normal
Title:w3m: Format string vulnerability
Date:01/12/2007
Bugs: #159145
ID:200701-06

Synopsis

w3m does not correctly handle format string specifiers in SSL certificates.

Background

w3m is a multi-platform text-based web browser.

Affected packages

Package Vulnerable Unaffected Architecture(s)
www-client/w3m < 0.5.1-r4 >= 0.5.1-r4 All supported architectures

Description

w3m in -dump or -backend mode does not correctly handle printf() format string specifiers in the Common Name (CN) field of an X.509 SSL certificate.

Impact

An attacker could entice a user to visit a malicious website that would load a specially crafted X.509 SSL certificate containing "%n" or other format string specifiers, possibly resulting in the execution of arbitrary code with the rights of the user running w3m.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All w3m users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=www-client/w3m-0.5.1-r4"

References

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200701-06.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.

License

Copyright 2010 Gentoo Foundation, Inc; referenced text belongs to its owner(s). The contents of this document are licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike license.

Thank you!