A new security update has been released for Gentoo Linux - LibAST: Privilege escalation. Here the announcement:

Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200601-14
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http://security.gentoo.org/
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Severity: High
Title: LibAST: Privilege escalation
Date: January 29, 2006
Bugs: #120106
ID: 200601-14

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Synopsis
========

A buffer overflow in LibAST may result in execution of arbitrary code
with escalated privileges.

Background
==========

LibAST is a utility library that was originally intended to accompany
Eterm, but may be used by various other applications.

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

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Package / Vulnerable / Unaffected
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 x11-libs/libast < 0.7 >= 0.7

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

Michael Jennings discovered an exploitable buffer overflow in the
configuration engine of LibAST.

Impact
======

The vulnerability can be exploited to gain escalated privileges if the
application using LibAST is setuid/setgid and passes a specifically
crafted filename to LibAST's configuration engine.

Workaround
==========

Identify all applications linking against LibAST and verify they are
not setuid/setgid.

Resolution
==========

All users should upgrade to the latest version and run revdep-rebuild:

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose >=x11-libs/libast-0.7
# revdep-rebuild

References
==========

[ 1 ] CVE-2006-0224
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2006-0224

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

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

http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200601-14.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 2006 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