Perl: Execution of arbitrary code

Security Team  Contact Address

Updated May 20, 2008

1.  Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Version Information

Advisory Reference GLSA 200805-17 / perl libperl
Release Date May 20, 2008
Latest Revision May 20, 2008: 01
Impact normal
Exploitable remote
Package Vulnerable versions Unaffected versions Architecture(s)
dev-lang/perl < 5.8.8-r5 >= 5.8.8-r5 All supported architectures
sys-devel/libperl < 5.8.8-r2 >= 5.8.8-r2 All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #219203

Synopsis

A double free vulnerability was discovered in Perl, possibly resulting in the execution of arbitrary code and a Denial of Service.

2.  Impact Information

Background

Perl is a stable, cross platform programming language.

Description

Tavis Ormandy and Will Drewry of the Google Security Team have reported a double free vulnerability when processing a crafted regular expression containing UTF-8 characters.

Impact

A remote attacker could possibly exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary code or cause a Denial of Service.

3.  Resolution Information

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All Perl users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=dev-lang/perl-5.8.8-r5"

All libperl users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.2: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=sys-devel/libperl-5.8.8-r2"

4.  References