Balsa: Buffer overflow

1. Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Advisory Reference	GLSA 200710-17 / balsa
Release Date	October 16, 2007
Latest Revision	October 16, 2007: 01
Impact	normal
Exploitable	remote

Package	Vulnerable versions	Unaffected versions	Architecture(s)
mail-client/balsa	< 2.3.20	>= 2.3.20	All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #193179

Synopsis

Balsa is vulnerable to a buffer overflow allowing for the user-assisted execution of arbitrary code.

2. Impact Information

Background

Balsa is a highly configurable email client for GNOME.

Description

Evil Ninja Squirrel discovered a stack-based buffer overflow in the ir_fetch_seq() function when receiving a long response to a FETCH command (CVE-2007-5007).

Impact

A remote attacker could entice a user to connect to a malicious or compromised IMAP server, possibly leading to the execution of arbitrary code with the rights of the user running Balsa.

3. Resolution Information

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All Balsa users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=mail-client/balsa-2.3.20"

4. References

CVE-2007-5007

Page updated October 16, 2007

Summary: This is a Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

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