Newsbeuter: User-assisted execution of arbitrary code

1. Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Advisory Reference	GLSA 200809-12 / newsbeuter
Release Date	September 22, 2008
Latest Revision	September 22, 2008: 01
Impact	normal
Exploitable	remote

Package	Vulnerable versions	Unaffected versions	Architecture(s)
net-news/newsbeuter	< 1.2	>= 1.2	All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #236506

Synopsis

Insufficient input validation in newsbeuter may allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary shell commands.

2. Impact Information

Background

Newsbeuter is a RSS/Atom feed reader for the text console.

Description

J.H.M. Dassen reported that the open-in-browser command does not properly escape shell metacharacters in the URL before passing it to system().

Impact

A remote attacker could entice a user to open a feed with specially crafted URLs, possibly resulting in the remote execution of arbitrary shell commands with the privileges of the user running the application.

3. Resolution Information

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All Newsbeuter users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=net-news/newsbeuter-1.2"

4. References

CVE-2008-3907

Page updated September 22, 2008

Summary: This is a Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

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