FreeBSD Security Advisories
2000-Oct-30 15:12 UTC
FreeBSD Ports Security Advisory: FreeBSD-SA-00:59.pine
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============================================================================FreeBSD-SA-00:59
Security Advisory
FreeBSD, Inc.
Topic: pine4 port contains remote vulnerability
Category: ports
Module: pine4/pine4-ssl/zh-pine4/iw-pine4
Announced: 2000-10-30
Affects: Ports collection.
Corrected: 2000-10-29
Credits: arkane@SPEAKEASY.ORG
Vendor status: Contacted
FreeBSD only: NO
I. Background
Pine is a popular mail user agent.
II. Problem Description
The pine4 port, versions 4.21 and before, contains a buffer overflow
vulnerability which allows a remote user to execute arbitrary code on
the local client by the sending of a special-crafted email
message. The overflow occurs during the periodic "new mail" checking
of an open folder.
The pine4 port is not installed by default, nor is it "part of
FreeBSD" as such: it is part of the FreeBSD ports collection, which
contains over 4000 third-party applications in a ready-to-install
format. The ports collections shipped with FreeBSD 4.1.1 and 3.5.1
contain this problem since it was discovered after the releases.
FreeBSD makes no claim about the security of these third-party
applications, although an effort is underway to provide a security
audit of the most security-critical ports.
Administrators should note that the Pine software has been a frequent
source of past security holes, and makes extensive use of string
routines commonly associated with security vulnerabilities. The
FreeBSD Security Officer believes it is likely that further
vulnerabilities exit in this software, and recommends the use of
alternative mail software in environments where electronic mail may be
received from untrusted sources.
III. Impact
Remote users can cause pine4 to crash when closing a mail folder by
sending a malformed email.
If you have not chosen to install the pine4 port/package, then
your system is not vulnerable to this problem.
IV. Workaround
Deinstall the pine4 port/package, if you have installed it.
The risk can be decreased by not leaving pine sitting idle with an
open folder, but it cannot be completely eliminated without patching
and recompiling the software.
V. Solution
One of the following:
1) Upgrade your entire ports collection and rebuild the pine4 port.
2) Deinstall the old package and install a new package dated after the
correction date, obtained from:
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-3-stable/mail/pine-4.21_1.tgz
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-4-stable/mail/pine-4.21_1.tgz
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/alpha/packages-4-stable/mail/pine-4.21_1.tgz
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-5-current/mail/pine-4.21_1.tgz
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/alpha/packages-5-current/mail/pine-4.21_1.tgz
NOTE: It may be several days before updated packages are available.
3) download a new port skeleton for the listmanager port from:
http://www.freebsd.org/ports/
and use it to rebuild the port.
4) Use the portcheckout utility to automate option (3) above. The
portcheckout port is available in /usr/ports/devel/portcheckout or the
package can be obtained from:
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-3-stable/devel/portcheckout-2.0.tgz
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-4-stable/devel/portcheckout-2.0.tgz
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/alpha/packages-4-stable/devel/portcheckout-2.0.tgz
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-5-current/devel/portcheckout-2.0.tgz
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/alpha/packages-5-current/devel/portcheckout-2.0.tgz
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