A NASM security update has been released for Gentoo Linux

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Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200412-20
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http://security.gentoo.org/
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Severity: Normal
Title: NASM: Buffer overflow vulnerability
Date: December 20, 2004
Bugs: #74477
ID: 200412-20

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Synopsis
=======

NASM is vulnerable to a buffer overflow that allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code through the use of a malicious object file.



Background
=========

NASM is a 80x86 assembler that has been created for portability and modularity. NASM supports Pentium, P6, SSE MMX, and 3DNow extensions. It also supports a wide range of objects formats (ELF, a.out, COFF, ...), and has its own disassembler.

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

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Package / Vulnerable / Unaffected
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1 dev-lang/nasm = 0.98.38-r1

Description
==========

Jonathan Rockway discovered that NASM-0.98.38 has an unprotected vsprintf() to an array in preproc.c. This code vulnerability may lead to a buffer overflow and potential execution of arbitrary code.

Impact
=====

A remote attacker could craft a malicious object file which, when supplied in NASM, would result in the execution of arbitrary code with the rights of the user running NASM.

Workaround
=========

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution
=========

All NASM users should upgrade to the latest version:

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=dev-lang/nasm-0.98.38-r1"

References
=========

[ 1 ] Original Advisory
http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_id=6166881&forum_id=4978

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

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

http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200412-20.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 Foundation, 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/2.0