Lynx: Buffer overflow in NNTP processing — GLSA 200510-15

Lynx contains a buffer overflow that may be exploited to execute arbitrary code.

Affected packages

www-client/lynx on all architectures
Affected versions < 2.8.5-r1
Unaffected versions >= 2.8.5-r1

Background

Lynx is a text-mode browser for the World Wide Web. It supports multiple URL types, including HTTP and NNTP URLs.

Description

When accessing a NNTP URL, Lynx connects to a NNTP server and retrieves information about the available articles in the target newsgroup. Ulf Harnhammar discovered a buffer overflow in a function that handles the escaping of special characters.

Impact

An attacker could setup a malicious NNTP server and entice a user to access it using Lynx (either by creating NNTP links on a web page or by forcing a redirect for Lynx users). The data returned by the NNTP server would trigger the buffer overflow and execute arbitrary code with the rights of the user running Lynx.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All Lynx users should upgrade to the latest version:

 # emerge --sync
 # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=www-client/lynx-2.8.5-r1"

References

Release date
October 17, 2005

Latest revision
October 17, 2005: 01

Severity
normal

Exploitable
remote

Bugzilla entries