Red Hat Security Advisory: Updated ncurses4 compat packages are available

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Feb 22, 2002
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                   Red Hat, Inc. Red Hat Security Advisory

Synopsis:          Updated ncurses4 compat packages are available
Advisory ID:       RHSA-2002:020-05
Issue date:        2002-01-29
Updated on:        2002-02-19
Product:           Red Hat Linux
Keywords:          ncurses4 buffer overrun overflow ncurses5
Cross references:  
Obsoletes:         
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1. Topic:

Updated ncurses4 compatability packages which fix a potential security
problem are available.

2. Relevant releases/architectures:

Red Hat Linux 7.0 - alpha, i386

Red Hat Linux 7.1 - alpha, i386

Red Hat Linux 7.2 - i386

3. Problem description:

The ncurses library provides a terminal-independent method of screen
handling.

A problem has been found in ncurses version 5.0 that could cause a buffer
overflow.  This overflow could be locally exploited if the library is
linked into a program that runs setuid or setgid.

Red Hat Linux ships with a compatibility package 'ncurses4' that is
actually based on ncurses version 5.0 but has been made ABI compatible
with ncurses 4.

No programs that ship with Red Hat Linux are exploitable.  A program could
only be exploited if it uses the ncurses 4 compatiblity package and if it
is run setuid or setgid.

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org/) has
assigned the name CAN-2002-0062 to this issue.  Thanks to Daniel
Jacobowitz at MontaVista Software for alerting us to this issue.

4. Solution:

Before applying this update, make sure all previously released errata 
relevant to your system have been applied. 
 
To update all RPMs for your particular architecture, run: 
 
rpm -Fvh [filenames] 
 
where [filenames] is a list of the RPMs you wish to upgrade.  Only those 
RPMs which are currently installed will be updated.  Those RPMs which are 
not installed but included in the list will not be updated.  Note that 
you 
can also use wildcards (*.rpm) if your current directory only contains 
the 
desired RPMs. 
 
Please note that this update is also available via Red Hat Network.  
Many 
people find this an easier way to apply updates.  To use Red Hat 
Network, 
launch the Red Hat Update Agent with the following command: 
 
up2date 
 
This will start an interactive process that will result in the 
appropriate 
RPMs being upgraded on your system.

5. Bug IDs fixed (http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla for more info):



6. RPMs required:

Red Hat Linux 7.0:

SRPMS:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/en/os/SRPMS/ncurses4-5.0-5.src.rpm

alpha:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/en/os/alpha/ncurses4-5.0-5.alpha.rpm

i386:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/en/os/i386/ncurses4-5.0-5.i386.rpm

Red Hat Linux 7.1:

SRPMS:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/SRPMS/ncurses4-5.0-5.src.rpm

alpha:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/alpha/ncurses4-5.0-5.alpha.rpm

i386:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.1/en/os/i386/ncurses4-5.0-5.i386.rpm

Red Hat Linux 7.2:

SRPMS:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/SRPMS/ncurses4-5.0-5.src.rpm

i386:
ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/i386/ncurses4-5.0-5.i386.rpm



7. Verification:

MD5 sum                          Package Name
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
53856e0c3219de2fcb4e56600b4eb3b9 7.0/en/os/SRPMS/ncurses4-5.0-5.src.rpm
b470c5cf9eaaa4710a09e114aced3f4d 7.0/en/os/alpha/ncurses4-5.0-5.alpha.rpm
b5ad8bc36c129534192e0dbce582f5ed 7.0/en/os/i386/ncurses4-5.0-5.i386.rpm
53856e0c3219de2fcb4e56600b4eb3b9 7.1/en/os/SRPMS/ncurses4-5.0-5.src.rpm
b470c5cf9eaaa4710a09e114aced3f4d 7.1/en/os/alpha/ncurses4-5.0-5.alpha.rpm
b5ad8bc36c129534192e0dbce582f5ed 7.1/en/os/i386/ncurses4-5.0-5.i386.rpm
53856e0c3219de2fcb4e56600b4eb3b9 7.2/en/os/SRPMS/ncurses4-5.0-5.src.rpm
b5ad8bc36c129534192e0dbce582f5ed 7.2/en/os/i386/ncurses4-5.0-5.i386.rpm
 

These packages are GPG signed by Red Hat, Inc. for security.  Our key
is available at:
    http://www.redhat.com/about/contact/pgpkey.html

You can verify each package with the following command:
    rpm --checksig  <filename>

If you only wish to verify that each package has not been corrupted or
tampered with, examine only the md5sum with the following command:
    rpm --checksig --nogpg <filename>

8. References:

http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CAN-2002-0062


Copyright(c) 2000, 2001 Red Hat, Inc.
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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