1. Ubuntu Security Notices
  2. USN-14-1

USN-14-1: xpdf vulnerabilities

Publication date

2 November 2004

Overview

xpdf vulnerabilities

Releases

Details

Markus Meissner discovered even more integer overflow vulnerabilities
in xpdf, a viewer for PDF files. These integer overflows can
eventually lead to buffer overflows.

The Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS) uses the same code to print PDF
files; tetex-bin uses the code to generate PDF output and process
included PDF files. In any case, these vulnerabilities could be
exploited by an attacker providing a specially crafted PDF file which,
when processed by CUPS, xpdf, or pdflatex, could result in abnormal
program termination or the execution of program code supplied by the
attacker.

In the case of CUPS, this bug could be exploited to gain the privileges of
the CUPS print server (by default, user cupsys).

In the cases of xpdf and pdflatex, this bug could be exploited to gain
the privileges of the user invoking the program.

Markus Meissner discovered even more integer overflow vulnerabilities
in xpdf, a viewer for PDF files. These integer overflows can
eventually lead to buffer overflows.

The Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS) uses the same code to print PDF
files; tetex-bin uses the code to generate PDF output and process
included PDF files. In any case, these vulnerabilities could be
exploited by an attacker providing a specially crafted PDF file which,
when processed by CUPS, xpdf, or pdflatex, could result in abnormal
program termination or the execution of program code supplied by the
attacker.

In the case of CUPS, this bug could be exploited to gain the privileges of
the CUPS print server (by default, user cupsys).

In the cases of xpdf and pdflatex, this bug could be exploited to gain
the privileges of the user invoking the program.

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
4.10 warty cupsys – 
xpdf-utils – 
tetex-bin – 
xpdf-reader – 

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References

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