Gnumeric: Heap overflow in the included PCRE library

1. Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Advisory Reference	GLSA 200509-02 / Gnumeric
Release Date	September 03, 2005
Latest Revision	September 03, 2005: 01
Impact	normal
Exploitable	remote

Package	Vulnerable versions	Unaffected versions	Architecture(s)
app-office/gnumeric	< 1.4.3-r2	>= 1.4.3-r2	All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #104010

Synopsis

Gnumeric is vulnerable to a heap overflow, possibly leading to the execution of arbitrary code.

2. Impact Information

Background

The Gnumeric spreadsheet is a versatile application developed as part of the GNOME Office project. libpcre is a library providing functions for Perl-compatible regular expressions.

Description

Gnumeric contains a private copy of libpcre which is subject to an integer overflow leading to a heap overflow (see GLSA 200508-17).

Impact

An attacker could potentially exploit this vulnerability by tricking a user into opening a specially crafted spreadsheet, which could lead to the execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running Gnumeric.

3. Resolution Information

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All Gnumeric users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=app-office/gnumeric-1.4.3-r2"

4. References

Updated September 03, 2005

Summary: This is a Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

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