Synopsis

Important: pidgin security update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory: Important

Topic

Updated pidgin packages that fix several security issues are now available
for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and 5.

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

Description

Pidgin is an instant messaging program which can log in to multiple
accounts on multiple instant messaging networks simultaneously.

A buffer overflow flaw was found in the way Pidgin initiates file transfers
when using the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). If a
Pidgin client initiates a file transfer, and the remote target sends a
malformed response, it could cause Pidgin to crash or, potentially, execute
arbitrary code with the permissions of the user running Pidgin. This flaw
only affects accounts using XMPP, such as Jabber and Google Talk.
(CVE-2009-1373)

A denial of service flaw was found in Pidgin's QQ protocol decryption
handler. When the QQ protocol decrypts packet information, heap data can be
overwritten, possibly causing Pidgin to crash. (CVE-2009-1374)

A flaw was found in the way Pidgin's PurpleCircBuffer object is expanded.
If the buffer is full when more data arrives, the data stored in this
buffer becomes corrupted. This corrupted data could result in confusing or
misleading data being presented to the user, or possibly crash Pidgin.
(CVE-2009-1375)

It was discovered that on 32-bit platforms, the Red Hat Security Advisory
RHSA-2008:0584 provided an incomplete fix for the integer overflow flaw
affecting Pidgin's MSN protocol handler. If a Pidgin client receives a
specially-crafted MSN message, it may be possible to execute arbitrary code
with the permissions of the user running Pidgin. (CVE-2009-1376)

Note: By default, when using an MSN account, only users on your buddy list
can send you messages. This prevents arbitrary MSN users from exploiting
this flaw.

All Pidgin users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain
backported patches to resolve these issues. Pidgin must be restarted for
this update to take effect.

Solution

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

This update is available via Red Hat Network. Details on how to use
the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at
http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/docs/DOC-11259

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 for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 4.8 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 4.8 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 4.8 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 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 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 4 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 4 ppc
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian - Extended Update Support 4.8 ppc

Fixes

• BZ - 500488 - CVE-2009-1373 pidgin file transfer buffer overflow
• BZ - 500490 - CVE-2009-1374 pidgin DoS when decrypting qq packets
• BZ - 500491 - CVE-2009-1375 pidgin PurpleCircBuffer corruption
• BZ - 500493 - CVE-2009-1376 pidgin incomplete fix for CVE-2008-2927

CVEs

• CVE-2009-1373
• CVE-2009-1376
• CVE-2009-1375
• CVE-2009-1374

References