A Velocity Engine security update has been released for Ubuntu Linux 16.04 LTS, 18.04 LTS, and 20.04 LTS.

[USN-6281-1] Velocity Engine vulnerability

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Ubuntu Security Notice USN-6281-1
August 10, 2023

velocity vulnerability
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A security issue affects these releases of Ubuntu and its derivatives:

- Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
- Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Available with Ubuntu Pro)
- Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Available with Ubuntu Pro)

Summary:

Velocity Engine could be made to run arbitrary code if it opened a specially
crafted file.

Software Description:
- velocity: A general purpose template engine written in Java

Details:

Alvaro Munoz discovered that Velocity Engine incorrectly handled certain
inputs. If a user or an automated system were tricked into opening a specially
crafted input file, a remote attacker could possibly use this issue to execute
arbitrary code.

Update instructions:

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following
package versions:

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS:
velocity 1.7-5+deb9u1build0.20.04.1

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Available with Ubuntu Pro):
velocity 1.7-5ubuntu0.18.04.1~esm1

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Available with Ubuntu Pro):
velocity 1.7-4ubuntu0.1~esm1

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

References:
https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-6281-1
CVE-2020-13936

Package Information:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/velocity/1.7-5+deb9u1build0.20.04.1