FreeType: User-assisted execution of arbitrary code

Background

FreeType is a font rendering library for TrueType Font (TTF) and Printer Font Binary (PFB).

Description

Regenrecht reported multiple vulnerabilities in FreeType via iDefense:

• An integer overflow when parsing values in the Private dictionary table in a PFB file, leading to a heap-based buffer overflow (CVE-2008-1806).
• An invalid free() call related to parsing an invalid “number of axes” field in a PFB file (CVE-2008-1807).
• Multiple off-by-one errors when parsing PBF and TTF files, leading to heap-based buffer overflows (CVE-2008-1808).

Impact

A remote attacker could entice a user to open a specially crafted TTF or PBF file, possibly resulting in the execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running an application linked against FreeType (such as the X.org X server, running as root).

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All FreeType users should upgrade to the latest version:

 # emerge --sync
 # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=media-libs/freetype-2.3.6"