Issued:

2009-07-02

Updated:

2009-07-02

RHSA-2009:1139 - Moderate: pidgin security and bug fix update

Synopsis

Moderate: pidgin security and bug fix update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory Moderate

Topic

Updated pidgin packages that fix one security issue and one bug are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and 5.

This update has been rated as having moderate security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team.

Description

Pidgin is an instant messaging program which can log in to multiple accounts on multiple instant messaging networks simultaneously. The AOL Open System for CommunicAtion in Realtime (OSCAR) protocol is used by the AOL ICQ and AIM instant messaging systems.

A denial of service flaw was found in the Pidgin OSCAR protocol implementation. If a remote ICQ user sent a web message to a local Pidgin user using this protocol, it would cause excessive memory usage, leading to a denial of service (Pidgin crash). (CVE-2009-1889)

These updated packages also fix the following bug:

• the Yahoo! Messenger Protocol changed, making it incompatible (and unusable) with Pidgin versions prior to 2.5.7. This update provides Pidgin 2.5.8, which implements version 16 of the Yahoo! Messenger Protocol, which resolves this issue.

Note: These packages upgrade Pidgin to version 2.5.8. Refer to the Pidgin release notes for a full list of changes: Content from developer.pidgin.im is not included.http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/ChangeLog

All Pidgin users should upgrade to these updated packages, which correct these issues. Pidgin must be restarted for this update to take effect.

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure that all previously-released errata relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via Red Hat Network. Details on how to use the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at This content is not included.http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/docs/DOC-11259

Affected Products

Updated Packages

• libpurple-devel-2.5.8-1.el4.i386.rpm
• finch-devel-2.5.8-1.el4.i386.rpm
• finch-devel-2.5.8-1.el5.i386.rpm
• pidgin-devel-2.5.8-1.el4.ia64.rpm
• finch-devel-2.5.8-1.el4.x86_64.rpm
• pidgin-2.5.8-1.el4.ia64.rpm
• libpurple-2.5.8-1.el4.ia64.rpm
• pidgin-2.5.8-1.el4.i386.rpm
• finch-2.5.8-1.el5.i386.rpm
• libpurple-tcl-2.5.8-1.el4.ia64.rpm
• libpurple-perl-2.5.8-1.el4.ia64.rpm
• libpurple-perl-2.5.8-1.el4.i386.rpm
• libpurple-devel-2.5.8-1.el4.ia64.rpm
• libpurple-2.5.8-1.el4.x86_64.rpm
• pidgin-2.5.8-1.el4.src.rpm
• pidgin-2.5.8-1.el4.ppc.rpm
• pidgin-perl-2.5.8-1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• libpurple-devel-2.5.8-1.el5.i386.rpm
• pidgin-devel-2.5.8-1.el5.i386.rpm
• libpurple-tcl-2.5.8-1.el4.x86_64.rpm
• pidgin-devel-2.5.8-1.el4.ppc.rpm
• finch-2.5.8-1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• pidgin-devel-2.5.8-1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• libpurple-2.5.8-1.el4.i386.rpm
• libpurple-2.5.8-1.el5.i386.rpm
• libpurple-perl-2.5.8-1.el5.i386.rpm
• finch-devel-2.5.8-1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• libpurple-tcl-2.5.8-1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• libpurple-perl-2.5.8-1.el4.ppc.rpm
• pidgin-2.5.8-1.el5.i386.rpm
• finch-2.5.8-1.el4.ia64.rpm
• pidgin-devel-2.5.8-1.el4.x86_64.rpm
• libpurple-devel-2.5.8-1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• finch-devel-2.5.8-1.el4.ia64.rpm
• pidgin-perl-2.5.8-1.el4.i386.rpm
• libpurple-devel-2.5.8-1.el4.x86_64.rpm
• pidgin-perl-2.5.8-1.el5.i386.rpm
• finch-devel-2.5.8-1.el4.ppc.rpm
• pidgin-perl-2.5.8-1.el4.ppc.rpm
• libpurple-2.5.8-1.el4.ppc.rpm
• libpurple-2.5.8-1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• finch-2.5.8-1.el4.i386.rpm
• libpurple-perl-2.5.8-1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• finch-2.5.8-1.el4.x86_64.rpm
• pidgin-perl-2.5.8-1.el4.x86_64.rpm
• libpurple-tcl-2.5.8-1.el5.i386.rpm
• pidgin-2.5.8-1.el5.src.rpm
• libpurple-perl-2.5.8-1.el4.x86_64.rpm
• libpurple-tcl-2.5.8-1.el4.i386.rpm
• pidgin-devel-2.5.8-1.el4.i386.rpm
• pidgin-perl-2.5.8-1.el4.ia64.rpm
• libpurple-devel-2.5.8-1.el4.ppc.rpm
• pidgin-2.5.8-1.el4.x86_64.rpm
• finch-2.5.8-1.el4.ppc.rpm
• libpurple-tcl-2.5.8-1.el4.ppc.rpm
• pidgin-2.5.8-1.el5.x86_64.rpm

Fixes

• This content is not included.BZ - 508271
• This content is not included.BZ - 508272
• This content is not included.BZ - 508738

CVEs

• CVE-2009-1889

References

• http://www.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#moderate

Additional information

• The Red Hat security contact is This content is not included.secalert@redhat.com. More contact details at https://access.redhat.com/security/team/contact/.
• Offline Security Data data is available for integration with other systems. See Offline Security Data API to get started.