ELinks: Arbitrary Samba command execution

Background

ELinks is a text mode web browser.

Description

Teemu Salmela discovered an error in the validation code of “smb://” URLs used by ELinks, the same issue as reported in GLSA 200612-16 concerning Links.

Impact

A remote attacker could entice a user to browse to a specially crafted “smb://” URL and execute arbitrary Samba commands, which would allow the overwriting of arbitrary local files or the upload or download of arbitrary files. This vulnerability can be exploited only if “smbclient” is installed on the victim’s computer, which is provided by the “samba” Gentoo package.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All ELinks users should upgrade to the latest version:

 # emerge --sync
 # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=www-client/elinks-0.11.2"