GLSA 201402-27: pidgin-knotify: Arbitrary code execution

Severity:high
Title:pidgin-knotify: Arbitrary code execution
Date:02/26/2014
Bugs: #336916
ID:201402-27

Synopsis

A vulnerability in pidgin-knotify might allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code.

Background

pidgin-knotify is a Pidgin plug-in to display message notifications in KDE.

Affected packages

Package Vulnerable Unaffected Architecture(s)
x11-plugins/pidgin-knotify <= 0.2.1 All supported architectures

Description

pidgin-knotify does not properly sanitize shell metacharacters from received messages.

Impact

A remote attacker could send a specially crafted instant message, possibly resulting in execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the Pidgin process.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

Gentoo has discontinued support for pidgin-knotify. We recommend that users unmerge pidgin-knotify:

      # emerge --unmerge "x11-plugins/pidgin-knotify"
    

References

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-201402-27.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!