Topic

An updated tar package that fixes a buffer overflow bug is now available
for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.

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

Description

The GNU tar program saves many files together in one archive and can
restore individual files (or all of the files) from that archive.

Jim Meyering discovered a buffer overflow bug in the way GNU tar extracts
malformed archives. By tricking a user into extracting a malicious tar
archive, it is possible to execute arbitrary code as the user running tar.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) assigned
the name CVE-2006-0300 to this issue.

Users of tar should upgrade to this updated package, which contains a
backported patch to correct this issue.

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 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 - 181772 - CVE-2006-0300 GNU tar heap overlfow bug

CVEs

• CVE-2006-0300

References

(none)