Lighttpd: Buffer overflow

1. Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Advisory Reference	GLSA 200709-16 / lighttpd
Release Date	September 27, 2007
Latest Revision	September 27, 2007: 01
Impact	high
Exploitable	remote

Package	Vulnerable versions	Unaffected versions	Architecture(s)
www-servers/lighttpd	< 1.4.18	>= 1.4.18	All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #191912

Synopsis

Lighttpd is vulnerable to the remote execution of arbitrary code.

2. Impact Information

Background

Lighttpd is a lightweight HTTP web server.

Description

Mattias Bengtsson and Philip Olausson have discovered a buffer overflow vulnerability in the function fcgi_env_add() in the file mod_fastcgi.c when processing overly long HTTP headers.

Impact

A remote attacker could send a specially crafted request to the vulnerable Lighttpd server, resulting in the remote execution of arbitrary code with privileges of the user running the web server. Note that mod_fastcgi is disabled in Gentoo's default configuration.

3. Resolution Information

Workaround

Edit the file /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf and comment the following line: "include mod_fastcgi.conf"

Resolution

All Lighttpd users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=www-servers/lighttpd-1.4.18"

4. References

CVE-2007-4727

Page updated September 27, 2007

Summary: This is a Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

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