GLSA 200807-12: BitchX: Multiple vulnerabilities

http://security.gentoo.org/

Severity:	normal
Title:	BitchX: Multiple vulnerabilities
Date:	07/21/2008
Bugs:	#190667
ID:	200807-12

Synopsis

Multiple vulnerabilities in BitchX may allow for the remote execution of arbitrary code or symlink attacks.

Background

BitchX is an IRC client.

Affected packages

Package	Vulnerable	Unaffected	Architecture(s)
net-irc/bitchx	<= 1.1-r4		All supported architectures

Description

bannedit reported a boundary error when handling overly long IRC MODE messages (CVE-2007-4584). Nico Golde reported an insecure creation of a temporary file within the e_hostname() function (CVE-2007-5839).

Impact

A remote attacker could entice a user to connect to a malicious IRC server, resulting in the remote execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running the application. A local attacker could perform symlink attacks to overwrite arbitrary files on the local machine.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

Since BitchX is no longer maintained, we recommend that users unmerge the vulnerable package and switch to another IRC client:

    # emerge --unmerge "net-irc/bitchx"

References

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200807-12.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.