libgtop daemon vulnerability

Updated 2/5/02
CAN 2001-0927
CAN 2001-0928

Impact

A remote attacker could execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the libgtop daemon.

Background

The libgtop daemon is a GNOME daemon which is used to monitor processes on a remote server. It is started with nobody permissions by default.

The Problems

11/30/01
CAN 2001-0927
The libgtop daemon has missing format strings in calls to the syslog_message() and syslog_io_message() functions. It is thereby possible for a remote attacker to specify the format strings through the input data to the daemon. By sending a specially crafted format string, it is possible for the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the server. libgtop versions prior to 1.0.13 are affected by this vulnerability.

2/5/02
CAN 2001-0928
Due to a second, unrelated buffer overflow vulnerability in the permitted function, it is still possible for a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code using libgtop 1.0.13 unless a patch has been applied.

Resolution

Upgrade to libgtop 1.0.13 or higher, and install the patch which was posted to Bugtraq.

Where can I read more about this?

These vulnerabilities were reported to Bugtraq on 11/27/01 and 11/28/01.