Libxml2 URI Parsing Buffer Overflow Vulnerabilities

1. Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Advisory Reference	GLSA 200403-01 / libxml
Release Date	March 05, 2004
Latest Revision	March 05, 2004: 01
Impact	normal
Exploitable	local and remote combination

Package	Vulnerable versions	Unaffected versions	Architecture(s)
dev-libs/libxml2	< 2.6.6	>= 2.6.6	All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #42735

Synopsis

A buffer overflow has been discovered in libxml2 versions prior to 2.6.6 which may be exploited by an attacker allowing the execution of arbitrary code.

2. Impact Information

Description

Yuuichi Teranishi discovered a flaw in libxml2 versions prior to 2.6.6. When the libxml2 library fetches a remote resource via FTP or HTTP, libxml2 uses parsing routines that can overflow a buffer caused by improper bounds checking if they are passed a URL longer than 4096 bytes.

Impact

If an attacker is able to exploit an application using libxml2 that parses remote resources, then this flaw could be used to execute arbitrary code.

3. Resolution Information

Workaround

No workaround is available; users are urged to upgrade libxml2 to 2.6.6.

Resolution

All users are recommended to upgrade their libxml2 installation:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge sync
# emerge -pv ">=dev-libs/libxml2-2.6.6"
# emerge ">=dev-libs/libxml2-2.6.6"

4. References

CVE 2004-0110

Page updated March 05, 2004

Summary: This is a Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

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