USN-359-1: Python vulnerability

Ubuntu Security Notice USN-359-1

6th October, 2006

python2.3, python2.4 vulnerability

A security issue affects these releases of Ubuntu and its derivatives:

  • Ubuntu 6.06 LTS
  • Ubuntu 5.10
  • Ubuntu 5.04

Details

Benjamin C. Wiley Sittler discovered that Python's repr() function did
not properly handle UTF-32/UCS-4 strings. If an application uses
repr() on arbitrary untrusted data, this could be exploited to execute
arbitrary code with the privileges of the python application.

Update instructions

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package version:

Ubuntu 6.06 LTS:
python2.4-minimal 2.4.3-0ubuntu6
python2.3-dbg 2.3.5-9ubuntu1.2
Ubuntu 5.10:
python2.3 2.3.5-8ubuntu0.2
python2.4-minimal 2.4.2-1ubuntu0.2
Ubuntu 5.04:
python2.3 2.3.5-2ubuntu0.3
python2.4-minimal 2.4.1-0ubuntu0.2

To update your system, please follow these instructions: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Security/Upgrades.

In general, a standard system upgrade is sufficient to effect the
necessary changes.

References

CVE-2006-4980