libgtop: Privilege escalation

1. Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Advisory Reference	GLSA 200701-17 / libgtop
Release Date	January 23, 2007
Latest Revision	January 23, 2007: 01
Impact	normal
Exploitable	local

Package	Vulnerable versions	Unaffected versions	Architecture(s)
gnome-base/libgtop	< 2.14.6	>= 2.14.6	All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #162169

Synopsis

libgtop improperly handles filenames, possibly allowing for the execution of arbitrary code.

2. Impact Information

Background

libgtop facilitates the libgtop_daemon, which is used by GNOME to obtain information about remote systems.

Description

Liu Qishuai discovered that glibtop_get_proc_map_s() in sysdeps/linux/procmap.c does not properly allocate memory for storing a filename, allowing certain filenames to cause the buffer to overflow on the stack.

Impact

By tricking a victim into executing an application that uses the libgtop library (e.g. libgtop_daemon or gnome-system-monitor), a local attacker could specify a specially crafted filename to be used by libgtop causing a buffer overflow and possibly execute arbitrary code with the rights of the user running the application.

3. Resolution Information

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All libgtop users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=gnome-base/libgtop-2.14.6"

4. References

CVE-2007-0235

Page updated January 23, 2007

Summary: This is a Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

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