[ GLSA 200603-06 ] GNU tar: Buffer overflow

[GLSA]

Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Title: GNU tar: Buffer overflow (GLSA 200603-06)
Severity: normal
Exploitable: remote
Date: March 10, 2006
Bug(s): #123038
ID: 200603-06

Synopsis

A malicious tar archive could trigger a Buffer overflow in GNU tar, potentially resulting in the execution of arbitrary code.

Background

GNU tar is the standard GNU utility for creating and manipulating tar archives, a common format used for creating backups and distributing files on UNIX-like systems.

Affected Packages

Package: app-arch/tar
Vulnerable: < 1.15.1-r1
Unaffected: >= 1.15.1-r1
Architectures: All supported architectures


Description

Jim Meyering discovered a flaw in the handling of certain header fields that could result in a buffer overflow when extracting or listing the contents of an archive.

Impact

A remote attacker could construct a malicious tar archive that could potentially execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running GNU tar.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All GNU tar users should upgrade to the latest version: