Gentoo Linux Advisories: acroread, Tomcat

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Aug 17, 2004

Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200408-14


http://security.gentoo.org/


Severity: Normal
Title: acroread: UUDecode filename buffer overflow
Date: August 15, 2004
Bugs: #60205
ID: 200408-14


Synopsis

acroread contains two errors in the handling of UUEncoded
filenames that may lead to execution of arbitrary code or
programs.

Background

acroread is Adobe’s Acrobat PDF reader for Linux.

Affected packages

Package Vulnerable Unaffected
1 app-text/acroread <= 5.08 >= 5.09

Description

acroread contains two errors in the handling of UUEncoded
filenames. First, it fails to check the length of a filename before
copying it into a fixed size buffer and, secondly, it fails to
check for the backtick shell metacharacter in the filename before
executing a command with a shell.

Impact

By enticing a user to open a PDF with a specially crafted
filename, an attacker could execute arbitrary code or programs with
the permissions of the user running acroread.

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Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time. All users are
encouraged to upgrade to the latest available version of
acroread.

Resolution

All acroread users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge sync
    # emerge -pv ">=app-text/acroread-5.09"
    # emerge ">=app-text/acroread-5.09"

References

[ 1 ] iDEFENSE Advisory 125


http://idefense.com/application/poi/display?id=125&type=vulnerabilities

[ 2 ] iDEFENSE Advisory 126


http://idefense.com/application/poi/display?id=126&type=vulnerabilities

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the
Gentoo Security Website:

http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200408-14.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 http://bugs.gentoo.org.

License

Copyright 2004 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/1.0


Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200408-15


http://security.gentoo.org/


Severity: Normal
Title: Tomcat: Insecure Installation
Date: August 15, 2004
Bugs: #59232
ID: 200408-15


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Synopsis

Improper file ownership may allow a member of the tomcat group
to execute scripts as root.

Background

Tomcat is the Apache Jakarta Project’s official implementation
of Java Servlets and Java Server Pages.

Affected packages

Package Vulnerable Unaffected
1 net-www/tomcat < 5.0.27-r3 >= 5.0.27-r3
*>= 4.1.30-r4
*>= 3.3.2-r2

Description

The Gentoo ebuild for Tomcat sets the ownership of the Tomcat
init scripts as tomcat:tomcat, but those scripts are executed with
root privileges when the system is started. This may allow a member
of the tomcat group to run arbitrary code with root privileges when
the Tomcat init scripts are run.

Impact

This could lead to a local privilege escalation or root
compromise by authenticated users.

Workaround

Users may change the ownership of /etc/init.d/tomcat* and
/etc/conf.d/tomcat* to be root:root:

# chown -R root:root /etc/init.d/tomcat* # chown -R root:root
/etc/conf.d/tomcat*

Resolution

All Tomcat users can upgrade to the latest stable version, or
simply apply the workaround:

    # emerge sync
    # emerge -pv ">=net-www/tomcat-5.0.27-r3"
    # emerge ">=net-www/tomcat-5.0.27-r3"

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the
Gentoo Security Website:

http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200408-15.xml

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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 http://bugs.gentoo.org.

License

Copyright 2004 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/1.0

Web Webster

Web Webster

Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.

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