Issued:
2014-10-14
Updated:
2014-10-14

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

Synopsis

Moderate: file security and bug fix update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory Moderate

Topic

Updated file packages that fix multiple security issues and several bugs are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

Red Hat Product Security has rated this update as having Moderate security impact. Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base scores, which give detailed severity ratings, are available for each vulnerability from the CVE links in the References section.

Description

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.

Solution

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

This update is available via the Red Hat Network. Details on how to use the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258

Affected Products

ProductVersionArch
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Scientific Computing6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian6ppc64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems6s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Retired Extended Life Cycle Support6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension (for IBM z Systems)6s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support (for IBM z Systems)6s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop6i386

Updated Packages

  • file-libs-5.04-21.el6.ppc.rpm
  • file-devel-5.04-21.el6.s390x.rpm
  • python-magic-5.04-21.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • file-libs-5.04-21.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • file-libs-5.04-21.el6.s390.rpm
  • file-libs-5.04-21.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • file-5.04-21.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • file-5.04-21.el6.src.rpm
  • python-magic-5.04-21.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • file-static-5.04-21.el6.i686.rpm
  • file-debuginfo-5.04-21.el6.ppc.rpm
  • file-5.04-21.el6.i686.rpm
  • file-static-5.04-21.el6.s390x.rpm
  • python-magic-5.04-21.el6.i686.rpm
  • file-devel-5.04-21.el6.ppc.rpm
  • file-static-5.04-21.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • file-debuginfo-5.04-21.el6.i686.rpm
  • python-magic-5.04-21.el6.s390x.rpm
  • file-libs-5.04-21.el6.i686.rpm
  • file-5.04-21.el6.s390x.rpm
  • file-debuginfo-5.04-21.el6.s390.rpm
  • file-5.04-21.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • file-debuginfo-5.04-21.el6.s390x.rpm
  • file-devel-5.04-21.el6.s390.rpm
  • file-debuginfo-5.04-21.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • file-libs-5.04-21.el6.s390x.rpm
  • file-devel-5.04-21.el6.i686.rpm
  • file-devel-5.04-21.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • file-debuginfo-5.04-21.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • file-static-5.04-21.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • file-devel-5.04-21.el6.ppc64.rpm

Fixes

CVEs

References

Additional information