USN-4746-1: xterm vulnerability

Publication date

24 February 2021

Overview

xterm could be made to crash or run programs if it handled specially crafted character sequences.


Packages

  • xterm - X terminal emulator

Details

Tavis Ormandy discovered that xterm incorrectly handled certain character
sequences. A remote attacker could use this issue to cause xterm to crash,
resulting in a denial of service, or possibly execute arbitrary code.

Tavis Ormandy discovered that xterm incorrectly handled certain character
sequences. A remote attacker could use this issue to cause xterm to crash,
resulting in a denial of service, or possibly execute arbitrary code.

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
20.10 groovy xterm –  353-1ubuntu1.20.10.2
20.04 focal xterm –  353-1ubuntu1.20.04.2
18.04 bionic xterm –  330-1ubuntu2.2
16.04 xenial xterm –  322-1ubuntu1.2

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