metadata/glsa/glsa-200405-19.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE glsa SYSTEM "http://www.gentoo.org/dtd/glsa.dtd">

<glsa id="200405-19">
  <title>Opera telnet URI handler file creation/truncation vulnerability</title>
  <synopsis>
    A vulnerability exists in Opera's telnet URI handler that may allow a
    remote attacker to overwrite arbitrary files.
  </synopsis>
  <product type="ebuild">opera</product>
  <announced>May 25, 2004</announced>
  <revised>December 30, 2007: 03</revised>
  <bug>50857</bug>
  <access>remote</access>
  <affected>
    <package name="www-client/opera" auto="yes" arch="*">
      <unaffected range="ge">7.50_beta1</unaffected>
      <vulnerable range="lt">7.50_beta1</vulnerable>
    </package>
  </affected>
  <background>
    <p>
    Opera is a multi-platform web browser.
    </p>
  </background>
  <description>
    <p>
    The telnet URI handler in Opera does not check for leading '-'
    characters in the host name. Consequently, a maliciously-crafted
    telnet:// link may be able to pass options to the telnet program
    itself. One example would be the following:
    </p>
    <p>
    telnet://-nMyFile
    </p>
    <p>
    If MyFile exists in the user's home directory and the user clicking on
    the link has write permissions to it, the contents of the file will be
    overwritten with the output of the telnet trace information. If MyFile
    does not exist, the file will be created in the user's home directory.
    </p>
  </description>
  <impact type="normal">
    <p>
    This exploit has two possible impacts. First, it may create new files
    in the user's home directory. Second, and far more serious, it may
    overwrite existing files that the user has write permissions to. An
    attacker with some knowledge of a user's home directory might be able
    to destroy important files stored within.
    </p>
  </impact>
  <workaround>
    <p>
    Disable the telnet URI handler from within Opera.
    </p>
  </workaround>
  <resolution>
    <p>
    All Opera users are encouraged to upgrade to the latest version of the
    program:
    </p>
    <code>
    # emerge sync
    
    # emerge -pv &quot;&gt;=www-client/opera-7.50_beta1&quot;
    # emerge &quot;&gt;=www-client/opera-7.50_beta1&quot;</code>
  </resolution>
  <references>
    <uri link="http://www.idefense.com/application/poi/display?id=104&amp;type=vulnerabilities&amp;flashstatus=true">iDEFENSE Security Advisory 05.12.04</uri>
    <uri link="http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2004-0473">CVE-2004-0473</uri>
  </references>
  <metadata tag="submitter">
    klieber
  </metadata>
</glsa>