[ GLSA 200801-14 ] Blam: User-assisted execution of arbitrary code

[GLSA]

Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Title: Blam: User-assisted execution of arbitrary code (GLSA 200801-14)
Severity: normal
Exploitable: local
Date: January 27, 2008
Bug(s): #199841
ID: 200801-14

Synopsis

Blam doesn't properly handle environment variables, potentially allowing a local attacker to execute arbitrary code.

Background

Blam is an RSS and Atom feed reader for GNOME written in C#.

Affected Packages

Package: net-news/blam
Vulnerable: < 1.8.4
Unaffected: >= 1.8.4
Architectures: All supported architectures


Description

The "/usr/bin/blam" script sets the "LD_LIBRARY_PATH" environment variable incorrectly, which might result in the current working directory (.) being included when searching for dynamically linked libraries of the Mono Runtime application.

Impact

A local attacker could entice a user to run Blam in a directory containing a specially crafted library file which could result in the execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running Blam.

Workaround

Do not run Blam from an untrusted working directory.

Resolution

All Blam users should upgrade to the latest version: