GNU ed: User-assisted execution of arbitrary code — GLSA 200809-15

A buffer overflow vulnerability in ed may allow for the remote execution of arbitrary code.

Affected packages

sys-apps/ed on all architectures
Affected versions < 1.0
Unaffected versions >= 1.0

Background

GNU ed is a basic line editor. red is a restricted version of ed that does not allow shell command execution.

Description

Alfredo Ortega from Core Security Technologies reported a heap-based buffer overflow in the strip_escapes() function when processing overly long filenames.

Impact

A remote attacker could entice a user to process specially crafted commands with ed or red, possibly resulting in the execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running the application.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All GNU ed users should upgrade to the latest version:

 # emerge --sync
 # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=sys-apps/ed-1.0"

References

Release date
September 23, 2008

Latest revision
September 23, 2008: 01

Severity
normal

Exploitable
remote

Bugzilla entries