(RHSA-2014:1606) Moderate: file security and bug fix update

The “file” command is used to identify a particular file according to the
type of data contained in the file. The command can identify various file
types, including ELF binaries, system libraries, RPM packages, and
different graphics formats.

Multiple denial of service flaws were found in the way file parsed certain
Composite Document Format (CDF) files. A remote attacker could use either
of these flaws to crash file, or an application using file, via a specially
crafted CDF file. (CVE-2014-0237, CVE-2014-0238, CVE-2014-3479,
CVE-2014-3480, CVE-2012-1571)

Two denial of service flaws were found in the way file handled indirect and
search rules. A remote attacker could use either of these flaws to cause
file, or an application using file, to crash or consume an excessive amount
of CPU. (CVE-2014-1943, CVE-2014-2270)

This update also fixes the following bugs:

• Previously, the output of the “file” command contained redundant white
  spaces. With this update, the new STRING_TRIM flag has been introduced to
  remove the unnecessary white spaces. (BZ#664513)

• Due to a bug, the “file” command could incorrectly identify an XML
  document as a LaTex document. The underlying source code has been modified
  to fix this bug and the command now works as expected. (BZ#849621)

• Previously, the “file” command could not recognize .JPG files and
  incorrectly labeled them as “Minix filesystem”. This bug has been fixed and
  the command now properly detects .JPG files. (BZ#873997)

• Under certain circumstances, the “file” command incorrectly detected
  NETpbm files as “x86 boot sector”. This update applies a patch to fix this
  bug and the command now detects NETpbm files as expected. (BZ#884396)

• Previously, the “file” command incorrectly identified ASCII text files as
  a .PIC image file. With this update, a patch has been provided to address
  this bug and the command now correctly recognizes ASCII text files.
  (BZ#980941)

• On 32-bit PowerPC systems, the “from” field was missing from the output
  of the “file” command. The underlying source code has been modified to fix
  this bug and “file” output now contains the “from” field as expected.
  (BZ#1037279)

• The “file” command incorrectly detected text files as “RRDTool DB version
  ool - Round Robin Database Tool”. This update applies a patch to fix this
  bug and the command now correctly detects text files. (BZ#1064463)

• Previously, the “file” command supported only version 1 and 2 of the QCOW
  format. As a consequence, file was unable to detect a “qcow2 compat=1.1”
  file created on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7. With this update, support for
  QCOW version 3 has been added so that the command now detects such files as
  expected. (BZ#1067771)

All file users are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which
contain backported patches to correct these issues.