USN-1103-1: tex-common vulnerability

Publication date

4 April 2011

Overview

tex-common could be made to run programs as your login if it opened a specially crafted file.


Packages

  • tex-common - common infrastructure for building and installing TeX

Details

Mathias Svensson discovered that the tex-common package contains an
insecure shell_escape_commands configuration item. If a user or automated
system were tricked into opening a specially crafted TeX file, a remote
attacker could execute arbitrary code with user privileges.

Mathias Svensson discovered that the tex-common package contains an
insecure shell_escape_commands configuration item. If a user or automated
system were tricked into opening a specially crafted TeX file, a remote
attacker could execute arbitrary code with user privileges.

Update instructions

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

Learn more about how to get the fixes.

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:

Ubuntu Release Package Version
10.10 maverick tex-common –  2.08ubuntu0.1
10.04 lucid tex-common –  2.06ubuntu0.1

Reduce your security exposure

Ubuntu Pro provides ten-year security coverage to 25,000+ packages in Main and Universe repositories, and it is free for up to five machines.


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