[ GLSA 200406-14 ] aspell: Buffer overflow in word-list-compress

[Thierry Carrez <koon () gentoo org>]

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Gentoo Linux Security Advisory                           GLSA 200406-14
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                                            http://security.gentoo.org/
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  Severity: Normal
     Title: aspell: Buffer overflow in word-list-compress
      Date: June 17, 2004
      Bugs: #53389
        ID: 200406-14

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Synopsis
========

A bug in the aspell utility word-list-compress can allow an attacker to
execute arbitrary code.

Background
==========

aspell is a popular spell-checker. Dictionaries are available for many
languages.

Affected packages
=================

    -------------------------------------------------------------------
     Package          /    Vulnerable    /                  Unaffected
    -------------------------------------------------------------------
  1  app-text/aspell      <= 0.50.5-r1                    >= 0.50.5-r2

Description
===========

aspell includes a utility for handling wordlists called
word-list-compress. This utility fails to do proper bounds checking
when processing words longer than 256 bytes.

Impact
======

If an attacker could entice a user to handle a wordlist containing very
long word lengths it could result in the execution of arbitrary code
with the permissions of the user running the program.

Workaround
==========

There is no known workaround at this time. All users are encouraged to
upgrade to the latest available version.

Resolution
==========

All users should upgrade to the latest available version of aspell.

    # emerge sync

    # emerge -pv ">=app-text/aspell-0.50.5-r2"
    # emerge ">=app-text/aspell-0.50.5-r2"

References
==========

  [ 1 ] Nettwerked Advisory
        http://nettwerked.mg2.org/advisories/wlc

Availability
============

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at
the Gentoo Security Website:

     http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200406-14.xml

Concerns?
=========

Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the
confidentiality and security of our users machines is of utmost
importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to
security () gentoo org or alternatively, you may file a bug at
http://bugs.gentoo.org.

License
=======

Copyright 2004 Gentoo Technologies, Inc; referenced text
belongs to its owner(s).

The contents of this document are licensed under the
Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike license.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0

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