RHSA-2005:709 - Security Advisory

Topic

An updated gdb package that fixes several bugs and minor security issues is
now available.

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

Description

GDB, the GNU debugger, allows debugging of programs written in C, C++,
and other languages by executing them in a controlled fashion, then
printing their data.

Several integer overflow bugs were found in gdb. If a user is tricked
into processing a specially crafted executable file, it may allow the
execution of arbitrary code as the user running gdb. The Common
Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name
CAN-2005-1704 to this issue.

A bug was found in the way gdb loads .gdbinit files. When a user executes
gdb, the local directory is searched for a .gdbinit file which is then
loaded. It is possible for a local user to execute arbitrary commands as
the victim running gdb by placing a malicious .gdbinit file in a location
where gdb may be run. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project
(cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2005-1705 to this issue.

This updated package also addresses the following issues:

• GDB on ia64 had previously implemented a bug fix to work-around a kernel

problem when creating a core file via gcore. The bug fix caused a
significant slow-down of gcore.

• GDB on ia64 issued an extraneous warning when gcore was used.
• GDB on ia64 could not backtrace over a sigaltstack.
• GDB on ia64 could not successfully do an info frame for a signal trampoline.
• GDB on AMD64 and Intel EM64T had problems attaching to a 32-bit process.
• GDB on AMD64 and Intel EM64T was not properly handling threaded watchpoints.
• GDB could not build with gcc4 when -Werror flag was set.
• GDB had problems printing inherited members of C++ classes.
• A few updates from mainline sources concerning Dwarf2 partial die in

cache support, follow-fork support, interrupted syscall support, and
DW_OP_piece read support.

All users of gdb should upgrade to this updated package, which resolves
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 Workstation 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 4 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 4 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 4 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 Power, big endian 4 ppc

Fixes

• BZ - 158680 - CAN-2005-1704 Integer overflow in gdb
• BZ - 158684 - CAN-2005-1705 gdb arbitrary command execution
• BZ - 160339 - GDB fails to correctly report frame information

CVEs

• CVE-2005-1704
• CVE-2005-1705

References

(none)