Gentoo 2478 Published by

An UUDeview update for Gentoo Linux has been released

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Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200403-05
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~ http://security.gentoo.org
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~ Severity: Normal
~ Title: UUDeview MIME Buffer Overflow
~ Date: March 26, 2004
~ Bugs: #44859
~ ID: 200403-05

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Synopsis
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A specially-crafted MIME file (.mim, .uue, .uu, .b64, .bhx, .hqx, and .xxe extensions) may cause UUDeview to crash or execute arbitrary code.



Background
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UUDeview is a program which is used to transmit binary files over the Internet in a text-only format. It is commonly used for email and Usenet attachments. It supports multiple encoding formats, including Base64, BinHex and UUEncoding.

Description
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By decoding a MIME archive with excessively long strings for various parameters, it is possible to crash UUDeview, or cause it to execute arbitrary code.

This vulnerability was originally reported by iDEFENSE as part of a WinZip advisory [ Reference: 1 ].

Impact
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An attacker could create a specially-crafted MIME file and send it via email. When recipient decodes the file, UUDeview may execute arbitrary code which is embedded in the MIME file, thus granting the attacker access to the recipient's account.

Workaround
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All users should upgrade to UUDeview 0.5.20:

~ # emerge sync
~ # emerge -pv ">=app-text/uudeview-0.5.20"
~ # emerge ">=app-text/uudeview-0.5.20"

References
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~ [ 1 ] http://www.idefense.com/application/poi/display?id=76
~ [ 2 ] http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/9758

Concerns?
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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.