[ GLSA 200808-06 ] libxslt: Execution of arbitrary code

[GLSA]

Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Title: libxslt: Execution of arbitrary code (GLSA 200808-06)
Severity: normal
Exploitable: remote
Date: August 06, 2008
Bug(s): #232172
ID: 200808-06

Synopsis

libxslt is affected by a heap-based buffer overflow, possibly leading to the execution of arbitrary code.

Background

libxslt is the XSLT C library developed for the GNOME project. XSLT is an XML language to define transformations for XML.

Affected Packages

Package: dev-libs/libxslt
Vulnerable: < 1.1.24-r1
Unaffected: >= 1.1.24-r1
Unaffected: < 1.1.8
Architectures: All supported architectures


Description

Chris Evans (Google Security) reported that the libexslt library that is part of libxslt is affected by a heap-based buffer overflow in the RC4 encryption/decryption functions.

Impact

A remote attacker could entice a user to process an XML file using a specially crafted XSLT stylesheet in an application linked against libxslt, possibly leading to the execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running the application.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All libxslt users should upgrade to the latest version: