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Gaim fails to properly validate the "value" parameter in the Yahoo login webpage

Vulnerability Note VU#297198

Original Release Date: 2004-05-06 | Last Revised: 2004-05-06

Overview

There is a buffer overflow vulnerability in the way the Gaim yahoo_login_page_hash() function parses the "value" parameter in the Yahoo login webpage.

Description

Gaim is a multi-protocol instant messenger available for a number of operating systems. It supports a variety of instant messaging protocols, including the Yahoo Messenger (YMSG) protocol. There is a buffer overflow vulnerability in the yahoo_login_page_hash() function of Gaim's YMSG protocol. When parsing the Yahoo login webpage, the yahoo_login_page_hash() function fails to perform proper bounds checking on the "value" parameter. Although the source of these values should originate from a site controlled by Yahoo, an attacker may use several techniques (DNS spoofing, man-in-the-middle, etc.) to modify the values returned to the victim.

Impact

An attacker with the ability to control the "value" parameter returned to the victim could execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the vulnerable process.

Solution

Upgrade

Upgrade to Gaim version 0.76 or later.

Vendor Information

297198
 

Gaim Affected

Updated:  May 06, 2004

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor Information

The vendor has not provided us with any further information regarding this vulnerability.

Addendum

This vulnerability has been addressed in versions 0.76 and later.

If you have feedback, comments, or additional information about this vulnerability, please send us email.


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References

Acknowledgements

This vulnerability was publicly reported by Stefan Esser of e-matters.

This document was written by Damon Morda.

Other Information

CVE IDs: CVE-2004-0006
Severity Metric: 6.56
Date Public: 2004-01-26
Date First Published: 2004-05-06
Date Last Updated: 2004-05-06 19:46 UTC
Document Revision: 14

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