USN-7336-1: GNU Chess vulnerability

Publication date

6 March 2025

Overview

gnuchess could be made to crash or run programs as your login if it opened a specially crafted file.


Packages

  • gnuchess - Plays a game of chess, either against the user or against itself

Details

Michael Vaughan discovered an overflow vulnerability in GNU Chess that
occurs when reading a specially crafted Portable Game Notation (PGN)
file. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause GNU Chess to
crash, resulting in a denial of service, or the execution of arbitrary
code.

Michael Vaughan discovered an overflow vulnerability in GNU Chess that
occurs when reading a specially crafted Portable Game Notation (PGN)
file. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause GNU Chess to
crash, resulting in a denial of service, or the execution of 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
24.10 oracular gnuchess –  6.2.7-1+deb11u1build0.24.10.1
24.04 noble gnuchess –  6.2.7-1+deb11u1build0.24.04.1
22.04 jammy gnuchess –  6.2.7-1+deb11u1build0.22.04.1

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