Gaim vulnerable to malformed SNAC packet infinite processing loop

Overview

Gaim contains a flaw in the processing of certain packets that may cause a denial of service.

Description

From the Gaim project:

Gaim is a multi-protocol instant messaging (IM) client for Linux, BSD, MacOS X, and Windows. It is compatible with AIM and ICQ (Oscar protocol), MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, SILC, GroupWise Messenger, and Zephyr networks

Gaim is susceptible to receiving a malformed AIM/ICQ OSCAR SNAC packet that may cause Gaim to enter an infinite processing loop. Please note that creating this type of malformed SNAC packet requires a custom client capable of crafting malicious invalid packets.

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Impact

A remote attacker may be able to cause Gaim and the local system to become unresponsive or to cause Gaim to crash.

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Solution

Apply an update
This flaw has been fixed in Gaim 1.1.3, along with other potential security vulnerabilities. All users may download an update at the Gaim Downloads page.

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As a best practice and potential workaround, users should not accept unexpected messages from unknown sources.

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Vendor Information

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Gaim __ Affected

Updated: February 21, 2005

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor Information

The vendor has not provided us with any further information regarding this vulnerability.

Addendum

The Gaim project has published a Gaim Vulnerability note concerning this flaw.

If you have feedback, comments, or additional information about this vulnerability, please send us [email](<mailto:[email protected]?Subject=VU%23839280 Feedback>).

CVSS Metrics

Group	Score	Vector
Base
Temporal
Environmental

References

• <http://secunia.com/advisories/14322/&gt;
• <http://gaim.sourceforge.net/security/index.php?id=10&gt;

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the Gaim project for reporting this vulnerability.

This document was written by Ken MacInnis based primarily on information from the Gaim project.

Other Information

CVE IDs:	CVE-2005-0472
Severity Metric:	1.28 Date Public: