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Home >> Browse Vulnerability Assessment Database >> Gentoo Local Security Checks >> [GLSA-200406-14] aspell: Buffer overflow in word-list-compress

Vulnerability Assessment Details

[GLSA-200406-14] aspell: Buffer overflow in word-list-compress

Vulnerability Assessment Summary
aspell: Buffer overflow in word-list-compress

Detailed Explanation for this Vulnerability Assessment
The remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-200406-14
(aspell: Buffer overflow in word-list-compress)

aspell includes a utility for handling wordlists called word-list-compress.
This utility fails to do proper bounds checking when processing words
longer than 256 bytes.

Impact

If a possible hacker could entice a user to handle a wordlist containing very
long word lengths it could result in the execution of arbitrary code with
the permissions of the user running the program.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time. All users are encouraged to
upgrade to the latest available version.

References:
http://nettwerked.mg2.org/advisories/wlc

Solution:
All users should upgrade to the latest available version of aspell.
# emerge sync
# emerge -pv ">=app-text/aspell-0.50.5-r4"
# emerge ">=app-text/aspell-0.50.5-r4"

Network Security Threat Level: Medium

Networks Security ID:

Vulnerability Assessment Copyright: (C) 2005 Michel Arboi

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