RHSA-2005:432 - Security Advisory

Topic

An updated gaim package that fixes security issues is now available for Red
Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1.

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

Description

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

A stack based buffer overflow bug was found in the way gaim processes a
message containing a URL. A remote attacker could send a carefully crafted
message resulting in the execution of arbitrary code on a victim's machine.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has
assigned the name CAN-2005-1261 to this issue.

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.

Users of Gaim are advised to upgrade to this updated package which contains
gaim version 0.59.9 with backported patches to correct these issues.

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure all previously released errata
relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via Red Hat Network. 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.

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 2 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 2 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 2 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 2 i386

Fixes

• BZ - 153319 - CAN-2005-0472 Gaim DoS
• BZ - 157017 - CAN-2005-1261 Gaim long url buffer overflow

CVEs

• CVE-2005-1261
• CVE-2005-0472

References

(none)