Attack vector
NETWORK Attack complexity
MEDIUM Privileges required
NONE Confidentiality impact
COMPLETE Integrity impact
COMPLETE Availability impact
COMPLETE Published: 2008-09-04
Updated: 2018-10-11
Summary
Heap-based buffer overflow in the strip_escapes function in signal.c in GNU ed before 1.0 allows context-dependent or user-assisted attackers to execute arbitrary code via a long filename. NOTE: since ed itself does not typically run with special privileges, this issue only crosses privilege boundaries when ed is invoked as a third-party component. http://xforce.iss.net/xforce/xfdb/44643 "GNU ed is vulnerable to a heap-based buffer overflow, caused by improper bounds checking by the strip_escapes() function. By persuading a victim to open a specially-crafted file, a remote attacker could overflow a buffer and execute arbitrary code on the system."
Vulnerable Configurations
Part | Description | Count |
Application | Gnu | 8 |
Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
- Buffer Overflow via Environment Variables
This attack pattern involves causing a buffer overflow through manipulation of environment variables. Once the attacker finds that they can modify an environment variable, they may try to overflow associated buffers. This attack leverages implicit trust often placed in environment variables.
- Overflow Buffers
Buffer Overflow attacks target improper or missing bounds checking on buffer operations, typically triggered by input injected by an attacker. As a consequence, an attacker is able to write past the boundaries of allocated buffer regions in memory, causing a program crash or potentially redirection of execution as per the attackers' choice.
- Client-side Injection-induced Buffer Overflow
This type of attack exploits a buffer overflow vulnerability in targeted client software through injection of malicious content from a custom-built hostile service.
- Filter Failure through Buffer Overflow
In this attack, the idea is to cause an active filter to fail by causing an oversized transaction. An attacker may try to feed overly long input strings to the program in an attempt to overwhelm the filter (by causing a buffer overflow) and hoping that the filter does not fail securely (i.e. the user input is let into the system unfiltered).
- MIME Conversion
An attacker exploits a weakness in the MIME conversion routine to cause a buffer overflow and gain control over the mail server machine. The MIME system is designed to allow various different information formats to be interpreted and sent via e-mail. Attack points exist when data are converted to MIME compatible format and back.
Nessus
NASL family | Mandriva Local Security Checks |
NASL id | MANDRIVA_MDVSA-2008-200.NASL |
description | A heap-based buffer overflow was found in GNU ed that allowed context-dependent or user-assisted attackers to execute arbitrary code via a long filename (CVE-2008-3916). This update provides GNU ed 1.0, which is not vulnerable to this issue. |
last seen | 2020-06-01 |
modified | 2020-06-02 |
plugin id | 37658 |
published | 2009-04-23 |
reporter | This script is Copyright (C) 2009-2019 Tenable Network Security, Inc. |
source | https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/37658 |
title | Mandriva Linux Security Advisory : ed (MDVSA-2008:200) |
NASL family | Oracle Linux Local Security Checks |
NASL id | ORACLELINUX_ELSA-2008-0946.NASL |
description | From Red Hat Security Advisory 2008:0946 : An updated ed package that fixes one security issue is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1, 3, 4 and 5. This update has been rated as having moderate security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team. ed is a line-oriented text editor, used to create, display, and modify text files (both interactively and via shell scripts). A heap-based buffer overflow was discovered in the way ed, the GNU line editor, processed long file names. An attacker could create a file with a specially crafted name that could possibly execute an arbitrary code when opened in the ed editor. (CVE-2008-3916) Users of ed should upgrade to this updated package, which contains a backported patch to resolve this issue. |
last seen | 2020-06-01 |
modified | 2020-06-02 |
plugin id | 67757 |
published | 2013-07-12 |
reporter | This script is Copyright (C) 2013-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof. |
source | https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/67757 |
title | Oracle Linux 3 / 4 / 5 : ed (ELSA-2008-0946) |
NASL family | Gentoo Local Security Checks |
NASL id | GENTOO_GLSA-200809-15.NASL |
description | The remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-200809-15 (GNU ed: User-assisted execution of arbitrary code) Alfredo Ortega from Core Security Technologies reported a heap-based buffer overflow in the strip_escapes() function when processing overly long filenames. Impact : A remote attacker could entice a user to process specially crafted commands with ed or red, possibly resulting in the execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running the application. Workaround : There is no known workaround at this time. |
last seen | 2020-06-01 |
modified | 2020-06-02 |
plugin id | 34273 |
published | 2008-09-24 |
reporter | This script is Copyright (C) 2008-2019 Tenable Network Security, Inc. |
source | https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/34273 |
title | GLSA-200809-15 : GNU ed: User-assisted execution of arbitrary code |
NASL family | SuSE Local Security Checks |
NASL id | SUSE_ED-7301.NASL |
description | This update fixes a heap-based buffer overflow in ed which can be exploited remotely only with user-assistance. CVE-2008-3916: CVSS v2 Base Score: 9.3 (HIGH) (AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C): Buffer Errors. (CWE-119) |
last seen | 2020-06-01 |
modified | 2020-06-02 |
plugin id | 51639 |
published | 2011-01-21 |
reporter | This script is Copyright (C) 2011-2019 Tenable Network Security, Inc. |
source | https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/51639 |
title | SuSE 10 Security Update : ed (ZYPP Patch Number 7301) |
NASL family | VMware ESX Local Security Checks |
NASL id | VMWARE_VMSA-2010-0004.NASL |
description | a. vMA and Service Console update for newt to 0.52.2-12.el5_4.1 Newt is a programming library for color text mode, widget based user interfaces. Newt can be used to add stacked windows, entry widgets, checkboxes, radio buttons, labels, plain text fields, scrollbars, etc., to text mode user interfaces. A heap-based buffer overflow flaw was found in the way newt processes content that is to be displayed in a text dialog box. A local attacker could issue a specially crafted text dialog box display request (direct or via a custom application), leading to a denial of service (application crash) or, potentially, arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the user running the application using the newt library. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-2905 to this issue. b. vMA and Service Console update for vMA package nfs-utils to 1.0.9-42.el5 The nfs-utils package provides a daemon for the kernel NFS server and related tools. It was discovered that nfs-utils did not use tcp_wrappers correctly. Certain hosts access rules defined in |
last seen | 2020-06-01 |
modified | 2020-06-02 |
plugin id | 44993 |
published | 2010-03-05 |
reporter | This script is Copyright (C) 2010-2018 Tenable Network Security, Inc. |
source | https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/44993 |
title | VMSA-2010-0004 : ESX Service Console and vMA third-party updates |
NASL family | VMware ESX Local Security Checks |
NASL id | VMWARE_VMSA-2010-0004_REMOTE.NASL |
description | The remote VMware ESX host is missing a security-related patch. It is, therefore, affected by multiple vulnerabilities, including remote code execution vulnerabilities, in several third-party components and libraries : - bind - expat - glib2 - Kernel - newt - nfs-utils - NTP - OpenSSH - OpenSSL |
last seen | 2020-06-01 |
modified | 2020-06-02 |
plugin id | 89737 |
published | 2016-03-08 |
reporter | This script is Copyright (C) 2016-2018 Tenable Network Security, Inc. |
source | https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/89737 |
title | VMware ESX Third-Party Libraries Multiple Vulnerabilities (VMSA-2010-0004) (remote check) |
NASL family | SuSE Local Security Checks |
NASL id | SUSE_11_ED-110111.NASL |
description | This update fixes a heap-based buffer overflow in ed which can be exploited remotely only with user-assistance. CVE-2008-3916: CVSS v2 Base Score: 9.3 (HIGH) (AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C): Buffer Errors. (CWE-119) |
last seen | 2020-06-01 |
modified | 2020-06-02 |
plugin id | 51597 |
published | 2011-01-21 |
reporter | This script is Copyright (C) 2011-2019 Tenable Network Security, Inc. |
source | https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/51597 |
title | SuSE 11.1 Security Update : ed (SAT Patch Number 3792) |
NASL family | Scientific Linux Local Security Checks |
NASL id | SL_20081021_ED_ON_SL3_X.NASL |
description | A heap-based buffer overflow was discovered in the way ed, the GNU line editor, processed long file names. An attacker could create a file with a specially crafted name that could possibly execute an arbitrary code when opened in the ed editor. (CVE-2008-3916) |
last seen | 2020-06-01 |
modified | 2020-06-02 |
plugin id | 60484 |
published | 2012-08-01 |
reporter | This script is Copyright (C) 2012-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof. |
source | https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/60484 |
title | Scientific Linux Security Update : ed on SL3.x, SL4.x, SL5.x i386/x86_64 |
NASL family | Fedora Local Security Checks |
NASL id | FEDORA_2008-9263.NASL |
description | ed is a line-oriented text editor, used to create, display, and modify text files (both interactively and via shell scripts). A heap-based buffer overflow was discovered in the way ed, the GNU line editor, processed long file names. An attacker could create a file with a specially crafted name that could possibly execute an arbitrary code when opened in the ed editor. (CVE-2008-3916) Users of ed should upgrade to this updated package, which contains a backported patch to resolve this issue. Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues. |
last seen | 2020-06-01 |
modified | 2020-06-02 |
plugin id | 34676 |
published | 2008-10-31 |
reporter | This script is Copyright (C) 2008-2019 Tenable Network Security, Inc. |
source | https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/34676 |
title | Fedora 9 : ed-1.1-1.fc9 (2008-9263) |
NASL family | CentOS Local Security Checks |
NASL id | CENTOS_RHSA-2008-0946.NASL |
description | An updated ed package that fixes one security issue is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1, 3, 4 and 5. This update has been rated as having moderate security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team. ed is a line-oriented text editor, used to create, display, and modify text files (both interactively and via shell scripts). A heap-based buffer overflow was discovered in the way ed, the GNU line editor, processed long file names. An attacker could create a file with a specially crafted name that could possibly execute an arbitrary code when opened in the ed editor. (CVE-2008-3916) Users of ed should upgrade to this updated package, which contains a backported patch to resolve this issue. |
last seen | 2020-06-01 |
modified | 2020-06-02 |
plugin id | 34463 |
published | 2008-10-22 |
reporter | This script is Copyright (C) 2008-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof. |
source | https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/34463 |
title | CentOS 3 / 4 / 5 : ed (CESA-2008:0946) |
NASL family | Red Hat Local Security Checks |
NASL id | REDHAT-RHSA-2008-0946.NASL |
description | An updated ed package that fixes one security issue is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1, 3, 4 and 5. This update has been rated as having moderate security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team. ed is a line-oriented text editor, used to create, display, and modify text files (both interactively and via shell scripts). A heap-based buffer overflow was discovered in the way ed, the GNU line editor, processed long file names. An attacker could create a file with a specially crafted name that could possibly execute an arbitrary code when opened in the ed editor. (CVE-2008-3916) Users of ed should upgrade to this updated package, which contains a backported patch to resolve this issue. |
last seen | 2020-06-01 |
modified | 2020-06-02 |
plugin id | 34467 |
published | 2008-10-22 |
reporter | This script is Copyright (C) 2008-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof. |
source | https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/34467 |
title | RHEL 2.1 / 3 / 4 / 5 : ed (RHSA-2008:0946) |
NASL family | SuSE Local Security Checks |
NASL id | SUSE_11_2_ED-101129.NASL |
description | This update fixes a heap-based buffer overflow in ed which can be exploited remotely only with user-assistance. CVE-2008-3916: CVSS v2 Base Score: 9.3 (HIGH) (AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C): Buffer Errors (CWE-119) |
last seen | 2020-06-01 |
modified | 2020-06-02 |
plugin id | 53709 |
published | 2011-05-05 |
reporter | This script is Copyright (C) 2011-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof. |
source | https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/53709 |
title | openSUSE Security Update : ed (openSUSE-SU-2010:1084-1) |
NASL family | Fedora Local Security Checks |
NASL id | FEDORA_2008-9236.NASL |
description | ed is a line-oriented text editor, used to create, display, and modify text files (both interactively and via shell scripts). A heap-based buffer overflow was discovered in the way ed, the GNU line editor, processed long file names. An attacker could create a file with a specially crafted name that could possibly execute an arbitrary code when opened in the ed editor. (CVE-2008-3916) Users of ed should upgrade to this updated package, which contains a backported patch to resolve this issue. Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues. |
last seen | 2020-06-01 |
modified | 2020-06-02 |
plugin id | 34674 |
published | 2008-10-31 |
reporter | This script is Copyright (C) 2008-2019 Tenable Network Security, Inc. |
source | https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/34674 |
title | Fedora 8 : ed-1.1-1.fc8 (2008-9236) |
NASL family | VMware ESX Local Security Checks |
NASL id | VMWARE_VMSA-2009-0003.NASL |
description | a. Updated ESX patch updates Service Console package ed ed is a line-oriented text editor, used to create, display, and modify text files (both interactively and via shell scripts). A heap-based buffer overflow was discovered in the way ed, the GNU line editor, processed long file names. An attacker could create a file with a specially crafted name that could possibly execute an arbitrary code when opened in the ed editor. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2008-3916 to this issue. |
last seen | 2020-06-01 |
modified | 2020-06-02 |
plugin id | 40388 |
published | 2009-07-27 |
reporter | This script is Copyright (C) 2009-2018 Tenable Network Security, Inc. |
source | https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/40388 |
title | VMSA-2009-0003 : ESX 2.5.5 patch 12 updates service console package ed |
Oval
accepted | 2013-04-29T04:07:40.621-04:00 |
class | vulnerability |
contributors | name | Aharon Chernin | organization | SCAP.com, LLC |
name | Dragos Prisaca | organization | G2, Inc. |
|
definition_extensions | comment | The operating system installed on the system is Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 | oval | oval:org.mitre.oval:def:11782 |
comment | CentOS Linux 3.x | oval | oval:org.mitre.oval:def:16651 |
comment | The operating system installed on the system is Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 | oval | oval:org.mitre.oval:def:11831 |
comment | CentOS Linux 4.x | oval | oval:org.mitre.oval:def:16636 |
comment | Oracle Linux 4.x | oval | oval:org.mitre.oval:def:15990 |
comment | The operating system installed on the system is Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | oval | oval:org.mitre.oval:def:11414 |
comment | The operating system installed on the system is CentOS Linux 5.x | oval | oval:org.mitre.oval:def:15802 |
comment | Oracle Linux 5.x | oval | oval:org.mitre.oval:def:15459 |
|
description | Heap-based buffer overflow in the strip_escapes function in signal.c in GNU ed before 1.0 allows context-dependent or user-assisted attackers to execute arbitrary code via a long filename. NOTE: since ed itself does not typically run with special privileges, this issue only crosses privilege boundaries when ed is invoked as a third-party component. |
family | unix |
id | oval:org.mitre.oval:def:10678 |
status | accepted |
submitted | 2010-07-09T03:56:16-04:00 |
title | Heap-based buffer overflow in the strip_escapes function in signal.c in GNU ed before 1.0 allows context-dependent or user-assisted attackers to execute arbitrary code via a long filename. NOTE: since ed itself does not typically run with special privileges, this issue only crosses privilege boundaries when ed is invoked as a third-party component. |
version | 27 |
Redhat
advisories | bugzilla | id | 462584 | title | CVE-2008-3916 ed: Heap-based buffer overflow (arb. code execution) |
| oval | OR | comment | Red Hat Enterprise Linux must be installed | oval | oval:com.redhat.rhba:tst:20070304026 |
AND | comment | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 is installed | oval | oval:com.redhat.rhba:tst:20070304025 |
comment | ed is earlier than 0:0.2-36.el4_7.1 | oval | oval:com.redhat.rhsa:tst:20080946001 |
comment | ed is signed with Red Hat master key | oval | oval:com.redhat.rhsa:tst:20080946002 |
|
AND | comment | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 is installed | oval | oval:com.redhat.rhba:tst:20070331005 |
comment | ed is earlier than 0:0.2-39.el5_2 | oval | oval:com.redhat.rhsa:tst:20080946004 |
comment | ed is signed with Red Hat redhatrelease key | oval | oval:com.redhat.rhsa:tst:20080946005 |
|
|
| rhsa | id | RHSA-2008:0946 | released | 2008-10-21 | severity | Moderate | title | RHSA-2008:0946: ed security update (Moderate) |
|
|
rpms | - ed-0:0.2-21.1
- ed-0:0.2-33.30E.1
- ed-0:0.2-36.el4_7.1
- ed-0:0.2-39.el5_2
- ed-debuginfo-0:0.2-33.30E.1
- ed-debuginfo-0:0.2-36.el4_7.1
- ed-debuginfo-0:0.2-39.el5_2
|