[gentoo-announce] [ GLSA 200810-01 ] WordNet: Execution of arbitrary code

[news 28]

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Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200810-01

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http://security.gentoo.org/

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Severity: Normal

Title: WordNet: Execution of arbitrary code

Date: October 07, 2008

Bugs: #211491

ID: 200810-01

 

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Synopsis

========

 

Multiple vulnerabilities were found in WordNet, possibly allowing for

the execution of arbitrary code.

 

Background

==========

 

WordNet is a large lexical database of English.

 

Affected packages

=================

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Package / Vulnerable / Unaffected

-------------------------------------------------------------------

1 app-dicts/wordnet < 3.0-r2 >= 3.0-r2

 

Description

===========

 

Jukka Ruohonen initially reported a boundary error within the

searchwn() function in src/wn.c. A thorough investigation by the oCERT

team revealed several other vulnerabilities in WordNet:

 

* Jukka Ruohonen and Rob Holland (oCERT) reported multiple boundary

errors within the searchwn() function in src/wn.c, the wngrep()

function in lib/search.c, the morphstr() and morphword() functions in

lib/morph.c, and the getindex() in lib/search.c, which lead to

stack-based buffer overflows.

 

* Rob Holland (oCERT) reported two boundary errors within the

do_init() function in lib/morph.c, which lead to stack-based buffer

overflows via specially crafted "WNSEARCHDIR" or "WNHOME" environment

variables.

 

* Rob Holland (oCERT) reported multiple boundary errors in the

bin_search() and bin_search_key() functions in binsrch.c, which lead

to stack-based buffer overflows via specially crafted data files.

 

* Rob Holland (oCERT) reported a boundary error within the

parse_index() function in lib/search.c, which leads to a heap-based

buffer overflow via specially crafted data files.

 

Impact

======

 

* In case the application is accessible e.g. via a web server, a

remote attacker could pass overly long strings as arguments to the

"wm" binary, possibly leading to the execution of arbitrary code.

 

* A local attacker could exploit the second vulnerability via

specially crafted "WNSEARCHDIR" or "WNHOME" environment variables,

possibly leading to the execution of arbitrary code with escalated

privileges.

 

* A local attacker could exploit the third and fourth vulnerability

by making the application use specially crafted data files, possibly

leading to the execution of arbitrary code.

 

Workaround

==========

 

There is no known workaround at this time.

 

Resolution

==========

 

All WordNet users should upgrade to the latest version:

 

# emerge --sync

# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=app-dicts/wordnet-3.0-r2"

 

References

==========

 

[ 1 ] CVE-2008-2149

http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2008-2149

[ 2 ] CVE-2008-3908

http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2008-3908

 

Availability

============

 

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at

the Gentoo Security Website:

 

http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200810-01.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 ( -at -) gentoo.org or alternatively, you may file a bug at

http://bugs.gentoo.org.

 

License

=======

 

Copyright 2008 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.

 

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5