irssi: Execution of arbitrary code

1. Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Advisory Reference	GLSA 200909-13 / irssi
Release Date	September 12, 2009
Latest Revision	September 12, 2009: 01
Impact	high
Exploitable	remote

Package	Vulnerable versions	Unaffected versions	Architecture(s)
net-irc/irssi	< 0.8.13-r1	>= 0.8.13-r1	All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #271875

Synopsis

A remotely exploitable off-by-one error leading to a heap overflow was found in irssi which might result in the execution of arbitrary code.

2. Impact Information

Background

irssi is a modular textUI IRC client with IPv6 support.

Description

Nemo discovered an off-by-one error leading to a heap overflow in irssi's event_wallops() parsing function.

Impact

A remote attacker might entice a user to connect to a malicious IRC server, use a man-in-the-middle attack to redirect a user to such a server or use ircop rights to send a specially crafted WALLOPS message, which might result in the execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running irssi.

3. Resolution Information

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All irssi users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=net-irc/irssi-0.8.13-r1"

4. References

CVE-2009-1959

Updated September 12, 2009

Summary: This is a Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

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