GLSA 200712-03: GNU Emacs: Multiple vulnerabilities
| Severity: | normal |
| Title: | GNU Emacs: Multiple vulnerabilities |
| Date: | 12/09/2007 |
| Bugs: | , |
| ID: | 200712-03 |
Synopsis
Two vulnerabilities were found in GNU Emacs possibly leading to the execution of arbitrary code.Background
GNU Emacs is a highly extensible and customizable text editor.
Affected packages
| Package | Vulnerable | Unaffected | Architecture(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| app-editors/emacs | < 22.1-r3 | >= 22.1-r3 | All supported architectures |
Description
Drake Wilson reported that the hack-local-variables() function in GNU Emacs 22 does not properly match assignments of local variables in a file against a list of unsafe or risky variables, allowing to override them (CVE-2007-5795). Andreas Schwab (SUSE) discovered a stack-based buffer overflow in the format function when handling values with high precision (CVE-2007-6109).
Impact
Remote attackers could entice a user to open a specially crafted file in GNU Emacs, possibly leading to the execution of arbitrary Emacs Lisp code (via CVE-2007-5795) or arbitrary code (via CVE-2007-6109) with the privileges of the user running GNU Emacs.
Workaround
The first vulnerability can be worked around by setting the "enable-local-variables" option to "nil", disabling the processing of local variable lists. GNU Emacs prior to version 22 is not affected by this vulnerability. There is no known workaround for the second vulnerability at this time.
Resolution
All GNU Emacs users should upgrade to the latest version:
# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=app-editors/emacs-22.1-r3"
References
Availability
This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website:
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.