7.5 - USN-2496-1

A security issue affects these releases of Ubuntu and its derivatives:

- Ubuntu 14.10 - Ubuntu 14.04 LTS - Ubuntu 12.04 LTS - Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

Summary:

Applications from GNU binutils could be made to crash, run programs, or delete arbitrary files as your login if they opened a specially crafted file.

Software Description: - binutils: GNU assembler, linker and binary utilities

Details:

Michal Zalewski discovered that the setup_group function in libbfd in GNU binutils did not properly check group headers in ELF files. An attacker could use this to craft input that could cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2014-8485)

Hanno Böck discovered that the _bfd_XXi_swap_aouthdr_in function in libbfd in GNU binutils allowed out-of-bounds writes. An attacker could use this to craft input that could cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2014-8501)

Hanno Böck discovered a heap-based buffer overflow in the pe_print_edata function in libbfd in GNU binutils. An attacker could use this to craft input that could cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2014-8502)

Alexander Cherepanov discovered multiple directory traversal vulnerabilities in GNU binutils. An attacker could use this to craft input that could delete arbitrary files. (CVE-2014-8737)

Alexander Cherepanov discovered the _bfd_slurp_extended_name_table function in libbfd in GNU binutils allowed invalid writes when handling extended name tables in an archive. An attacker could use this to craft input that could cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2014-8738)

Hanno Böck discovered a stack-based buffer overflow in the ihex_scan function in libbfd in GNU binutils. An attacker could use this to craft input that could cause a denial of service (application crash). (CVE-2014-8503)

Michal Zalewski discovered a stack-based buffer overflow in the srec_scan function in libbfd in GNU binutils. An attacker could use this to to craft input that could cause a denial of service (application crash); the GNU C library's Fortify Source printf protection should prevent the possibility of executing arbitrary code. (CVE-2014-8504)

Michal Zalewski discovered that the srec_scan function in libbfd in GNU binutils allowed out-of-bounds reads. An attacker could use this to craft input to cause a denial of service. This issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, and Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. (CVE-2014-8484)

Sang Kil Cha discovered multiple integer overflows in the _objalloc_alloc function and objalloc_alloc macro in binutils. This could allow an attacker to cause a denial of service (application crash). This issue only affected Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. (CVE-2012-3509)

Alexander Cherepanov and Hanno Böck discovered multiple additional out-of-bounds reads and writes in GNU binutils. An attacker could use these to craft input that could cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code. A few of these issues may be limited in exposure to a denial of service (application abort) by the GNU C library's Fortify Source printf protection.

The strings(1) utility in GNU binutils used libbfd by default when examining executable object files; unfortunately, libbfd was not originally developed with the expectation of hostile input. As a defensive measure, the behavior of strings has been changed to default to 'strings --all' behavior, which does not use libbfd; use the new argument to strings, '--data', to recreate the old behavior.

Update instructions:

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:

Ubuntu 14.10:
binutils 2.24.90.20141014-0ubuntu3.1
binutils-multiarch 2.24.90.20141014-0ubuntu3.1

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS:
binutils 2.24-5ubuntu3.1
binutils-multiarch 2.24-5ubuntu3.1

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS:
binutils 2.22-6ubuntu1.2
binutils-multiarch 2.22-6ubuntu1.2

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS:
binutils 2.20.1-3ubuntu7.2
binutils-multiarch 2.20.1-3ubuntu7.2

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

References:
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-2496-1
CVE-2012-3509, CVE-2014-8484, CVE-2014-8485, CVE-2014-8501,
CVE-2014-8502, CVE-2014-8503, CVE-2014-8504, CVE-2014-8737,
CVE-2014-8738

Package Information:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/binutils/2.24.90.20141014-0ubuntu3.1
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/binutils/2.24-5ubuntu3.1
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/binutils/2.22-6ubuntu1.2
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/binutils/2.20.1-3ubuntu7.2