RHSA-2005:215 - Security Advisory

Topic

An updated gaim package that fixes various security issues as well as a
number of bugs is now available.

This update has been rated as having important security impact by the Red
Hat Security Response Team.

Description

The Gaim application is a multi-protocol instant messaging client.

Two HTML parsing bugs were discovered in Gaim. It is possible that a remote
attacker could send a specially crafted message to a Gaim client, causing
it to crash. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project
(cve.mitre.org) has assigned the names CAN-2005-0208 and CAN-2005-0473 to
these issues.

A bug in the way Gaim processes SNAC packets was discovered. It is
possible that a remote attacker could send a specially crafted SNAC packet
to a Gaim client, causing the client to stop responding. The Common
Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name
CAN-2005-0472 to this issue.

Additionally, various client crashes, memory leaks, and protocol issues
have been resolved.

Users of Gaim are advised to upgrade to this updated package which contains
Gaim version 1.1.4 and is not vulnerable to these issues.

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure that all previously-released
errata relevant to your system have been applied. Use Red Hat
Network to download and update your packages. To launch the Red Hat
Update Agent, use the following command:

up2date

For information on how to install packages manually, refer to the
following Web page for the System Administration or Customization
guide specific to your system:

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 4 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 4 i386
• 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 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 4 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 4 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 Desktop 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 4 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 3 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 3 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 4 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 4 s390
• 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 4 ppc
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 3 ppc

Fixes

• BZ - 149273 - CAN-2005-0472 Gaim DoS issues (CAN-2005-0473)
• BZ - 149533 - CAN-2005-0208 Gaim HTML parsing DoS

CVEs

• CVE-2005-0472
• CVE-2005-0208
• CVE-2005-0473

References

• http://gaim.sourceforge.net/security/index.php?id=10
• http://gaim.sourceforge.net/security/index.php?id=11
• http://gaim.sourceforge.net/security/index.php?id=12