most - Shell Injection Vulnerability
Summary
DLA-745-1: most - security update. Affects most versions < 5.0.0a-2.2. Fixed in 5.0.0a-2.2. How to fix ↓
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Background
most is a pager utility that can automatically open files compressed with gzip, bzip2, and LZMA. It is commonly used in Debian 7 Wheezy. However, the Debian version of most was found to be vulnerable to a shell injection attack, which allows an attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the user's computer.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in most arises from a lack of proper input sanitization. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by crafting a malicious file name that contains shell commands. When the user opens the file with most, the commands will be executed with the privileges of the user running most. This can lead to unauthorized access, data loss, or even complete compromise of the system.
How To Fix
Minimum fixed version
5.0.0a-2.2
This is the first release that contains the fix.
sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade mostTip — Not sure which version your app runs? Vulert can match this fix to it. Scan free →
Workaround
If upgrading the most package is not immediately possible, a temporary workaround is to avoid opening untrusted files with most. Users should exercise caution when opening files from unknown or untrusted sources.
Conclusion
The shell injection vulnerability in most can be mitigated by upgrading the package to the latest version. It is important to promptly apply security updates to protect against potential attacks. For further support on vulnerability remediation, contact DevNack.com.
See every vulnerability recorded for most →
FAQ
most is a pager utility that allows users to view files in a paginated manner. It supports various compression formats and is commonly used in Debian 7 Wheezy.
The vulnerability arises from a lack of input sanitization in the Debian version of most. An attacker can craft a file name that contains shell commands, which will be executed when the file is opened with most.
Exploiting this vulnerability can lead to unauthorized access, data loss, or complete compromise of the system. An attacker can execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the user running most.
To fix this vulnerability, it is recommended to upgrade the most package to version 5.0.0a-2.2 or later. This can be done by running the package manager command specific to the operating system.
If upgrading the most package is not immediately possible, users can avoid opening untrusted files with most. Exercise caution when opening files from unknown or untrusted sources.
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