Overly broad permissions can turn one compromised account into a much larger security problem. Learn how to reduce unnecessary access, review privileges, and apply least privilege across modern Linux systems. Review Linux Privileges×

Alerts This Week
Warning Icon 1 524
Alerts This Week
Warning Icon 1 524

Red Hat Enterprise Linux: Critical Update for Freetype Heap Overflow Issue

red hat
Calendar Grey November 16, 2010
Scroller Redhat
Important security update released for Red Hat Linux to resolve severe heap overflow vulnerability in freetype library. Upgrade immediately!
Updated freetype packages that fix one security issue are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4, 5, and 6

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure all previously-released errata relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via the Red Hat Network. Details on how to use the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at

Summary

FreeType is a free, high-quality, portable font engine that can open and manage font files. It also loads, hints, and renders individual glyphs efficiently. The freetype packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 provide both the FreeType 1 and FreeType 2 font engines. The freetype packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and 6 provide only the FreeType 2 font engine.
A heap-based buffer overflow flaw was found in the way the FreeType font rendering engine processed certain TrueType GX fonts. If a user loaded a specially-crafted font file with an application linked against FreeType, it could cause the application to crash or, possibly, execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running the application. (CVE-2010-3855)
Note: This issue only affects the FreeType 2 font engine.
Users are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which contain a backported patch to correct this issue. The X server must be restarted (log out, then log back in) for this update to take effect.

Topics%20covered

Topics Covered

security advisory security issue software update Red Hat Enterprise Linux important heap overflow freetype

References

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2010-3855 https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification#important

Package List

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS version 4:
Source:
i386: freetype-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.i386.rpm freetype-debuginfo-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.i386.rpm freetype-demos-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.i386.rpm freetype-devel-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.i386.rpm freetype-utils-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.i386.rpm
ia64: freetype-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.i386.rpm freetype-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.ia64.rpm freetype-debuginfo-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.i386.rpm freetype-debuginfo-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.ia64.rpm freetype-demos-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.ia64.rpm freetype-devel-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.ia64.rpm freetype-utils-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.ia64.rpm
ppc: freetype-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.ppc.rpm freetype-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.ppc64.rpm freetype-debuginfo-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.ppc.rpm freetype-debuginfo-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.ppc64.rpm freetype-demos-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.ppc.rpm freetype-devel-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.ppc.rpm freetype-utils-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.ppc.rpm
s390: freetype-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.s390.rpm freetype-debuginfo-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.s390.rpm freetype-demos-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.s390.rpm freetype-devel-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.s390.rpm freetype-utils-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.s390.rpm
s390x: freetype-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.s390.rpm freetype-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.s390x.rpm freetype-debuginfo-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.s390.rpm freetype-debuginfo-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.s390x.rpm freetype-demos-2.1.9-17.el4_8.1.s390x.rpm

Read the Full Advisory


Severity
important
Lowest
Low
Medium
High
Critical

Advisory ID: RHSA-2010:0889-01
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Advisory URL: https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2010:0889.html
Issue date: 2010-11-16

Topic

Updated freetype packages that fix one security issue are now available forRed Hat Enterprise Linux 4, 5, and 6.The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as havingimportant security impact. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS)base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available from theCVE link in the References section.

Topics%20covered

Topics Covered

security advisory security issue software update Red Hat Enterprise Linux important heap overflow freetype

Relevant Releases Architectures

RHEL Desktop Workstation (v. 5 client) - i386, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (v. 5 server) - i386, ia64, ppc, s390x, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS version 4 - i386, ia64, ppc, s390, s390x, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 5 client) - i386, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) - i386, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) - i386, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop version 4 - i386, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 4 - i386, ia64, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) - x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) - x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) - i386, ppc64, s390x, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) - i386, ppc64, s390x, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 4 - i386, ia64, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) - i386, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) - i386, x86_64

Bugs Fixed

645275 - CVE-2010-3855 Freetype : Heap based buffer overflow in ft_var_readpackedpoints()

Get the latest News and Insights

Get the latest Linux and open source security news straight to your inbox.