1. Ubuntu Security Notices
  2. USN-1642-1

USN-1642-1: Lynx vulnerabilities

Publication date

29 November 2012

Overview

Two security issues were fixed in Lynx.

Releases

Packages

  • lynx-cur - Text-mode WWW Browser with NLS support

Details

Dan Rosenberg discovered a heap-based buffer overflow in Lynx. If a user
were tricked into opening a specially crafted page, a remote attacker could
cause a denial of service via application crash, or possibly execute
arbitrary code as the user invoking the program. This issue only affected
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. (CVE-2010-2810)

It was discovered that Lynx did not properly verify that an HTTPS
certificate was signed by a trusted certificate authority. This could allow
an attacker to perform a “machine-in-the-middle” (MITM) attack which would make
the user believe their connection is secure, but is actually being
monitored. This update changes the behavior of Lynx such that self-signed
certificates no longer validate. Users requiring the previous behavior can
use the ‘FORCE_SSL_PROMPT’ option in lynx.cfg. (CVE-2012-5821)

Dan Rosenberg discovered a heap-based buffer overflow in Lynx. If a user
were tricked into opening a specially crafted page, a remote attacker could
cause a denial of service via application crash, or possibly execute
arbitrary code as the user invoking the program. This issue only affected
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. (CVE-2010-2810)

It was discovered that Lynx did not properly verify that an HTTPS
certificate was signed by a trusted certificate authority. This could allow
an attacker to perform a “machine-in-the-middle” (MITM) attack which would make
the user believe their connection is secure, but is actually being
monitored. This update changes the behavior of Lynx such that self-signed
certificates no longer validate. Users requiring the previous behavior can
use the ‘FORCE_SSL_PROMPT’ option in lynx.cfg. (CVE-2012-5821)

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
12.10 quantal lynx-cur –  2.8.8dev.12-2ubuntu0.1
12.04 precise lynx-cur –  2.8.8dev.9-2ubuntu0.12.04.1
11.10 oneiric lynx-cur –  2.8.8dev.9-2ubuntu0.11.10.1
10.04 lucid lynx-cur –  2.8.8dev.2-1ubuntu0.1

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References

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