ELinks: User-assisted execution of arbitrary code

Background

ELinks is a text-mode web browser.

Description

Arnaud Giersch discovered that the “add_filename_to_string()” function in file intl/gettext/loadmsgcat.c uses an untrusted relative path, allowing for a format string attack with a malicious .po file.

Impact

A local attacker could entice a user to run ELinks in a specially crafted directory environment containing a malicious “.po” file, possibly resulting in the execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running ELinks.

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-r1"