A buffer overflow vulnerability in ed may allow for the remote execution of arbitrary code.
| Package | Arch | Vulnerable | Unaffected |
|---|---|---|---|
| sys-apps/ed | * | < 1.0 | >= 1.0 |
GNU ed is a basic line editor. red is a restricted version of ed that does not allow shell command execution.
Alfredo Ortega from Core Security Technologies reported a heap-based buffer overflow in the strip_escapes() function when processing overly long filenames.
A remote attacker could entice a user to process specially crafted commands with ed or red, possibly resulting in the execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running the application.
There is no known workaround at this time.
All GNU ed users should upgrade to the latest version:
# emerge --sync # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=sys-apps/ed-1.0"
The ed utility is vulnerable to symlink attacks, potentially allowing a local user to overwrite or change rights on arbitrary files with the rights of the user running ed, which could be the root user.
| Package | Arch | Vulnerable | Unaffected |
|---|---|---|---|
| sys-apps/ed | * | <= 0.2-r3 | >= 0.2-r4 |
ed is a line-oriented text editor, used to create or modify text files, both interactively and via shell scripts.
ed insecurely creates temporary files in world-writeable directories with predictable names. Given that ed is used in various system shell scripts, they are by extension affected by the same vulnerability.
A local attacker could create symbolic links in the temporary files directory, pointing to a valid file somewhere on the filesystem. When ed is called, this would result in file access with the rights of the user running the utility, which could be the root user.
There is no known workaround at this time.
All ed users should upgrade to the latest version:
# emerge sync # emerge -pv ">=sys-apps/ed-0.2-r4" # emerge ">=sys-apps/ed-0.2-r4"