Exim verify=header_syntax buffer overflow — GLSA 200405-07

When the verify=header_syntax option is set, there is a buffer overflow in Exim that allows remote execution of arbitrary code.

Affected packages

Background

Exim is an highly configurable message transfer agent (MTA) developed at the University of Cambridge.

Description

When the option "verify = header_syntax" is used in an ACL in the configuration file, Exim is vulnerable to a buffer overflow attack that can be triggered remotely by sending malicious headers in an email message. Note that this option is not enabled in Exim's default configuration file.

Impact

This vulnerability can be exploited to trigger a denial of service attack and potentially execute arbitrary code with the rights of the user used by the Exim daemon (by default this is the "mail" user in Gentoo Linux).

Workaround

Make sure the verify=header_syntax option is not used in your exim.conf file.

Resolution

 # emerge sync

 # emerge -pv ">=mail-mta/exim-4.33-r1"
 # emerge ">=mail-mta/exim-4.33-r1"

References

• CAN-2004-0400

Release date
May 14, 2004

Latest revision
May 14, 2004: 01

Severity
high

Exploitable
remote

Bugzilla entries

• 50217