Manipulated Tag Files used with Solaris Text Editors May Lead to Execution of Arbitrary Code

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Manipulated Tag Files used with Solaris Text Editors May Lead to Execution of Arbitrary Code

1. Impact

A security vulnerability in the Solaris text editors (vi(1), ex(1), vedit(1), view(1), edit(1)), related to the handling of tags (see ctags(1)) may allow a local unprivileged user to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of another user.

Sun acknowledges with thanks, "Eli the Bearded" for bringing this issue to our attention.

2. Contributing Factors

This issue can occur in the following releases:

SPARC Platform:

• Solaris 8 without patch 110903-08
• Solaris 9 without patch 113031-04
• Solaris 10 without patch 120830-06

x86 Platform:

• Solaris 8 without patch 110904-08
• Solaris 9 without patch 116479-02
• Solaris 10 without patch 120831-06

3. Symptoms

There are no reliable symptoms that would indicate the described issue has occurred.

4. Workaround

To avoid this issue, do not use the '-t' option or the ':tag' command with the Solaris text editors (vi, ex, vedit, view or edit). Use the ctags(1) utility to recreate the tags file.

5. Resolution

This issue is addressed in the following releases:

SPARC Platform

• Solaris 8 with patch 110903-08 or later
• Solaris 9 with patch 113031-04 or later
• Solaris 10 with patch 120830-06 or later
  

x86 Platform

• Solaris 8 with patch 110904-08 or later
• Solaris 9 with patch 116479-02 or later
• Solaris 10 with patch 120831-06 or later

For more information on Security Sun Alerts, see Technical Instruction ID 213557.

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