GNU tar: Buffer overflow

1. Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Advisory Reference	GLSA 200603-06 / tar
Release Date	March 10, 2006
Latest Revision	March 10, 2006: 01
Impact	normal
Exploitable	remote

Package	Vulnerable versions	Unaffected versions	Architecture(s)
app-arch/tar	< 1.15.1-r1	>= 1.15.1-r1	All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #123038

Synopsis

A malicious tar archive could trigger a Buffer overflow in GNU tar, potentially resulting in the execution of arbitrary code.

2. Impact Information

Background

GNU tar is the standard GNU utility for creating and manipulating tar archives, a common format used for creating backups and distributing files on UNIX-like systems.

Description

Jim Meyering discovered a flaw in the handling of certain header fields that could result in a buffer overflow when extracting or listing the contents of an archive.

Impact

A remote attacker could construct a malicious tar archive that could potentially execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running GNU tar.

3. Resolution Information

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All GNU tar users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=app-arch/tar-1.15.1-r1"

4. References

CVE-2006-0300

Page updated March 10, 2006

Summary: This is a Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

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