XEmacs and Emacs popmail function in movemail.c file format string
| xemacs-movemail-format-string (19246) |  High Risk |
Description:
The movemail utility included in Emacs is vulnerable to a format string attack, caused by a vulnerability in the popmail function in the movemail.c file. A remote attacker in control of a POP3 mail server could send a specially-crafted response to a victim who is connected as a movemail client to execute arbitrary code on the system with elevated privileges, possibly setgid mail.
Platforms Affected:
- Canonical, Ubuntu 4.10
- Debian, Debian Linux 3.0
- Gentoo, Linux
- GNU, emacs 20.0
- GNU, emacs 21.3
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux 10.0 AMD64
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux 10.0
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux 10.1 X86_64
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux 10.1
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux Corporate Server 2.1
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux Corporate Server 2.1 X86_64
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux Corporate Server 3.0
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux Corporate Server 3.0 X86_64
- RedHat, Enterprise Linux 2.1 AS
- RedHat, Enterprise Linux 2.1 ES
- RedHat, Enterprise Linux 2.1 WS
- RedHat, Enterprise Linux 3 Desktop
- RedHat, Enterprise Linux 3 ES
- RedHat, Enterprise Linux 3 AS
- RedHat, Enterprise Linux 3 WS
- RedHat, Enterprise Linux 4 AS
- RedHat, Enterprise Linux 4 Desktop
- RedHat, Enterprise Linux 4 ES
- RedHat, Enterprise Linux 4 WS
- RedHat, Linux Advanced Workstation 2.1 Itanium
- Turbolinux, Turbolinux 10 Desktop
- Turbolinux, Turbolinux 10 F...
- Turbolinux, Turbolinux 10 Server
- Turbolinux, Turbolinux 7 Server
- Turbolinux, Turbolinux 7 Workstation
- Turbolinux, Turbolinux 8 Server
- Turbolinux, Turbolinux 8 Workstation
- Turbolinux, Turbolinux Home
- Turbolinux, Turbolinux Appliance Server 1.0 Hosting Ed
- Turbolinux, Turbolinux Appliance Server 1.0 Workgroup Ed
- XEmacs, XEmacs 21.3
- XEmacs, XEmacs 21.4
Remedy:
For Emacs:
Upgrade to the latest version of Emacs (21.4 or later), available from the GNU Web site. See References.
For XEmacs:
Upgrade to the latest version of XEmacs (21.4.17 or later), available from the XEmacs Web site. See References.
For Ubuntu Linux:
Refer to USN-76-1 February 07, 2005 for patch, upgrade, or suggested workaround information. See References.
For Gentoo Linux:
Upgrade to the latest version of emacs (21.4 or later) or xemacs (21.4.15-r3 or later), as listed in GLSA 200502-20. See References.
For Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (woody):
Upgrade to the latest version of emacs 20 (20.7-13.3 or later), as listed in DSA-670-1. See References.
For Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (woody):
Upgrade to the latest version of xemacs 21 (21.4.16-2 or later), as listed in DSA-671-1. See References.
For Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (woody):
Upgrade to the latest version of emacs 21 (21.2-1woody3 or later), as listed in DSA-685-1. See References.
For Red Hat Linux (emacs):
Refer to RHSA-2005:110-06 or RHSA-2005:112-03 for patch, upgrade, or suggested workaround information. See References.
For Red Hat Linux (Xemacs):
Refer to RHSA-2005:133-05 or RHSA-2005:134-02 for patch, upgrade, or suggested workaround information. See References.
For other distributions:
Contact your vendor for upgrade or patch information.
Consequences:
Gain Access
References:
- CIAC Information Bulletin P-123, Emacs20 at http://www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/p-123.shtml.
- GNU Web site, Index of ftp.gnu.org/gnu/emacs at http://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/emacs/.
- XEmacs Announcements Web site, XEmacs 21.4.17, "Jumbo Shrimp", is released at http://list-archive.xemacs.org/xemacs-announce/200502/msg00001.html.
- BID-12462: Emacs Movemail POP3 Remote Format String Vulnerability
- CVE-2005-0100: Format string vulnerability in the movemail utility in (1) Emacs 20.x, 21.3, and possibly other versions, and (2) XEmacs 21.4 and earlier, allows remote malicious POP3 servers to execute arbitrary code via crafted packets.
- DSA-670: emacs20 -- format string
- DSA-671: xemacs21 -- format string
- DSA-685: emacs21 -- format string
- GLSA-200502-20: Emacs, XEmacs: Format string vulnerabilities in movemail
- MDKSA-2005:038: Updated emacs/xemacs packages fix vulnerability
- RHSA-2005-110: emacs security update
- RHSA-2005-112: emacs security update
- RHSA-2005-133: xemacs security update
- RHSA-2005-134: xemacs security update
- SUSE-SR:2005:006: SUSE Security Summary Report
Reported:
Feb 07, 2005
The information within this database may change without notice. Use of this information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition. There are NO warranties, implied or otherwise, with regard to this information or its use. Any use of this information is at the user's risk. In no event shall the author/distributor (Internet Security Systems X-Force) be held liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of or in connection with the use or spread of this information.
Copyright (c) 1994-2008 Internet Security Systems, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.
For corrections or additions please email xforce@iss.net