file: Denial of service — GLSA 201403-03

A vulnerability in file could result in Denial of Service.

Affected packages

sys-apps/file on all architectures
Affected versions < 5.17
Unaffected versions >= 5.17

Background

file is a utility that guesses a file format by scanning binary data for patterns.

Description

A flaw was found in the way the file utility determines the type of a file.

Impact

A remote attacker could entice a user to open a specially crafted file, possibly resulting in a Denial of Service condition.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All file users should upgrade to the latest version:

 # emerge --sync
 # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=sys-apps/file-5.17"
 

References

Release date
March 13, 2014

Latest revision
March 13, 2014: 1

Severity
normal

Exploitable
remote

Bugzilla entries