Title: GPM-Root Format String Vulnerability
Severity: HIGH
Description:
gpm is the General Mouse Protocol, a software package maintained by public domain. It is freely available, and open source. It runs on Linux and other Unix systems.
A problem has been discovered in gpm that could allow local users to gain elevated privileges. The problem is in the handling of format strings.
gpm does not properly handle format strings supplied by an arbitrary user. A user may pass arbitrary format strings to the gpm-root program, that could result in the execution of arbitrary code. The gpm program is started by init with root privileges.
This problem may make it possible for a local user to gain administrative privileges.
Affected Products:
- Debian Linux 2.2.0 68k
- Debian Linux 2.2.0 IA-32
- Debian Linux 2.2.0 alpha
- Debian Linux 2.2.0 arm
- Debian Linux 2.2.0 powerpc
- Debian Linux 2.2.0 sparc
- GPM GPM 1.17.8
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