A buffer overflow vulnerability has been found in Axel which could lead to the execution of arbitrary code.
| Package | net-misc/axel on all architectures | 
|---|---|
| Affected versions | < 1.0b | 
| Unaffected versions | >= 1.0b | 
Axel is a console-based FTP/HTTP download accelerator.
A possible buffer overflow has been reported in the HTTP redirection handling code in conn.c.
A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability by setting up a malicious site and enticing a user to connect to it. This could possibly lead to the execution of arbitrary code with the permissions of the user running Axel.
There is no known workaround at this time.
All Axel users should upgrade to the latest version:
# emerge --sync # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=net-misc/axel-1.0b"
      Release date
      
      April 12, 2005
    
      Latest revision
      
      April 12, 2005: 01
    
      Severity
      
      normal
    
      Exploitable
      
      remote
    
Bugzilla entries