Bugtraq: [ GLSA 200406-14 ] aspell: Buffer overflow in word-list-compress

From: Thierry Carrez <koon_at_gentoo.org>
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 21:39:56 +0200

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Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200406-14
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http://security.gentoo.org/
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  Severity: Normal
     Title: aspell: Buffer overflow in word-list-compress
      Date: June 17, 2004
      Bugs: #53389
        ID: 200406-14

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Synopsis
========

A bug in the aspell utility word-list-compress can allow an attacker to
execute arbitrary code.

Background
==========

aspell is a popular spell-checker. Dictionaries are available for many
languages.

Affected packages
=================

    -------------------------------------------------------------------
     Package / Vulnerable / Unaffected
    -------------------------------------------------------------------
  1 app-text/aspell <= 0.50.5-r1 >= 0.50.5-r2

Description
===========

aspell includes a utility for handling wordlists called
word-list-compress. This utility fails to do proper bounds checking
when processing words longer than 256 bytes.

Impact
======

If an attacker could entice a user to handle a wordlist containing very
long word lengths it could result in the execution of arbitrary code
with the permissions of the user running the program.

Workaround
==========

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

Resolution
==========

All users should upgrade to the latest available version of aspell.

# emerge sync

# emerge -pv ">=app-text/aspell-0.50.5-r2"
# emerge ">=app-text/aspell-0.50.5-r2"

References
==========

[ 1 ] Nettwerked Advisory
http://nettwerked.mg2.org/advisories/wlc

Availability
============

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

http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200406-14.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_at_gentoo.org or alternatively, you may file a bug at
http://bugs.gentoo.org.

License
=======

The contents of this document are licensed under the
Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike license.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0

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Received on Jun 19 2004