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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
=================
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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@xxxxxxxxxx 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
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