Blam: User-assisted execution of arbitrary code

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Updated January 27, 2008

1.  Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Version Information

Advisory Reference GLSA 200801-14 / blam
Release Date January 27, 2008
Latest Revision January 27, 2008: 01
Impact normal
Exploitable local
Package Vulnerable versions Unaffected versions Architecture(s)
net-news/blam < 1.8.4 >= 1.8.4 All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #199841

Synopsis

Blam doesn't properly handle environment variables, potentially allowing a local attacker to execute arbitrary code.

2.  Impact Information

Background

Blam is an RSS and Atom feed reader for GNOME written in C#.

Description

The "/usr/bin/blam" script sets the "LD_LIBRARY_PATH" environment variable incorrectly, which might result in the current working directory (.) being included when searching for dynamically linked libraries of the Mono Runtime application.

Impact

A local attacker could entice a user to run Blam in a directory containing a specially crafted library file which could result in the execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running Blam.

3.  Resolution Information

Workaround

Do not run Blam from an untrusted working directory.

Resolution

All Blam users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=net-news/blam-1.8.4"

4.  References