Emacs, XEmacs security updates are available for Gentoo Linux

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Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200502-20
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http://security.gentoo.org/
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Severity: Normal
Title: Emacs, XEmacs: Format string vulnerabilities in movemail
Date: February 15, 2005
Bugs: #79686
ID: 200502-20

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Synopsis
=======

The movemail utility shipped with Emacs and XEmacs contains several format string vulnerabilities, potentially leading to the execution of arbitrary code.



Background
=========

GNU Emacs and XEmacs are highly extensible and customizable text editors. movemail is an Emacs utility that can fetch mail on remote mail servers.

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

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Package / Vulnerable / Unaffected
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1 app-editors/emacs < 21.4 >= 21.4
2 app-editors/xemacs < 21.4.15-r3 >= 21.4.15-r3
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2 affected packages on all of their supported architectures.
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Description
==========

Max Vozeler discovered that the movemail utility contains several format string errors.

Impact
=====

An attacker could set up a malicious POP server and entice a user to connect to it using movemail, resulting in the execution of arbitrary code with the rights of the victim user.

Workaround
=========

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution
=========

All Emacs users should upgrade to the latest version:

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=app-editors/emacs-21.4"

All XEmacs users should upgrade to the latest version:

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=app-editors/xemacs-21.4.15-r3"

References
=========

[ 1 ] CAN-2005-0100
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CAN-2005-0100

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

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

http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200502-20.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 2005 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