Python 2.2: Buffer overflow in getaddrinfo()

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Updated September 02, 2004

1.  Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Version Information

Advisory Reference GLSA 200409-03 / Python
Release Date September 02, 2004
Latest Revision September 02, 2004: 01
Impact high
Exploitable remote
Package Vulnerable versions Unaffected versions Architecture(s)
dev-lang/python < 2.2.2 >= 2.2.2, < 2.2 All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #62440

Synopsis

Python 2.2 has a vulnerability in DNS handling when IPV6 is disabled and a malformed IPV6 address is encountered by getaddrinfo().

2.  Impact Information

Background

Python is an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented, cross-platform programming language.

Description

If IPV6 is disabled in Python 2.2, getaddrinfo() is not able to handle IPV6 DNS requests properly and a buffer overflow occurs.

Impact

An attacker can execute arbitrary code as the user running python.

3.  Resolution Information

Workaround

Users with IPV6 enabled are not affected by this vulnerability.

Resolution

All Python 2.2 users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge sync
# emerge -pv ">=dev-lang/python-2.2.2"
# emerge ">=dev-lang/python-2.2.2"

4.  References