RHSA-2004:061 - Security Advisory

Topic

Updated XFree86 packages that fix a privilege escalation vulnerability are
now available.

[Update 16 February 2004]
Erratum filelist has been modified for x86_64 and s390x only so that the
correct multi-lib packages are available.

Description

XFree86 is an implementation of the X Window System, providing the core
graphical user interface and video drivers.

iDefense discovered two buffer overflows in the parsing of the 'font.alias'
file. A local attacker could exploit this vulnerability by creating a
carefully-crafted file and gaining root privileges.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has
assigned the names CAN-2004-0083 and CAN-2004-0084 to these issues.

Additionally David Dawes discovered additional flaws in reading font files.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has
assigned the name CAN-2004-0106 to these issues.

All users of XFree86 are advised to upgrade to these erratum packages,
which contain a backported fix and are not vulnerable to these issues.

Red Hat would like to thank David Dawes from XFree86 for the patches and
notification of these issues.

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.

If up2date fails to connect to Red Hat Network due to SSL Certificate
Errors, you need to install a version of the up2date client with an updated
certificate. The latest version of up2date is available from the Red Hat
FTP site and may also be downloaded directly from the RHN website:

https://rhn.redhat.com/help/latest-up2date.pxt

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 3 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 3 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 3 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 3 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 3 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 3 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 3 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 3 s390
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 3 ppc

Fixes

• BZ - 114902 - CAN-2004-0083 XFree86 font.alias overflow

CVEs

• CVE-2004-0083
• CVE-2004-0084
• CVE-2004-0106

References

• http://www.idefense.com/application/poi/display?id=72
• http://www.idefense.com/application/poi/display?id=73