GLSA 202310-13: GNU Mailutils: unexpected processsing of escape sequences

Severity:high
Title:GNU Mailutils: unexpected processsing of escape sequences
Date:10/19/2023
Bugs: #802867
ID:202310-13

Synopsis

A vulnerability has been discovered in Mailutils where escape sequences are processed in a context where this may lead to RCE.

Background

GNU Mailutils is a collection of mail-related utilities, including an IMAP4 server (imap4d) and a Mail User Agent (mail).

Affected packages

Package Vulnerable Unaffected Architecture(s)
net-mail/mailutils < 3.12-r3 >= 3.12-r3 All supported architectures

Description

A vulnerability has been discovered in GNU Mailutils. Please review the CVE identifier referenced below for details.

Impact

mail(1) from mailutils would process escape sequences (like ~! shellcommand) in message bodies piped/redirected in. This creates an RCE if some part of the message body is under an attacker's control.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All Mailutils users should upgrade to the latest version:

          # emerge --sync
          # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=net-mail/mailutils-3.12-r3"
        

References

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-202310-13.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!