GLSA 200701-24 VLC media player: Format string vulnerability

Posted by Bob on: 01/27/2007 08:25 PM [ Print | 0 comment(s) ]

A new security update has been released for Gentoo Linux - VLC media player: Format string vulnerability. Here the announcement:

Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200701-24
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http://security.gentoo.org/
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Severity: Normal
Title: VLC media player: Format string vulnerability
Date: January 26, 2007
Bugs: #159845
ID: 200701-24

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Synopsis
========

VLC media player improperly handles format strings, allowing for the
execution of arbitrary code.

Background
==========

VLC media player is a multimedia player for various audio and video
formats.

Affected packages
=================

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Package / Vulnerable / Unaffected
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 media-video/vlc lt; 0.8.6-r1 gt;= 0.8.6-r1

Description
===========

Kevin Finisterre has discovered that when handling media locations,
various functions throughout VLC media player make improper use of
format strings.

Impact
======

An attacker could entice a user to open a specially crafted media
location or M3U file with VLC media player, and execute arbitrary code
on the system with the rights of the user running VLC media player.

Workaround
==========

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution
==========

All VLC media player users should upgrade to the latest version:

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose "gt;=media-video/vlc-0.8.6-r1"

References
==========

[ 1 ] CVE-2007-0017
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2007-0017

Availability
============

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at
the Gentoo Security Website:

http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200701-24.xml

Concerns?
=========

Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the
confidentiality and security of our users machines is of utmost
importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to
security@gentoo.org or alternatively, you may file a bug at
http://bugs.gentoo.org.

License
=======

Copyright 2007 Gentoo Foundation, Inc; referenced text
belongs to its owner(s).

The contents of this document are licensed under the
Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike license.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5