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Fedora Legacy Update Advisory
Synopsis: Updated slocate resolves security vulnerabilities
Advisory ID: FLSA:1232
Issue date: 2004-02-11
Product: Red Hat Linux
Keywords: Security
Cross references:
CVE Names: CAN-2003-0848, CAN-2003-0056
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1. Topic:
Updated slocate packages are now available that fix security
vulnerabilities which may allow local users to gain "slocate" group
privileges.
2. Relevant releases/architectures:
Red Hat Linux 7.2 - i386
Red Hat Linux 7.3 - i386
Red Hat Linux 8.0 - i386
3. Problem description:
Slocate is a security-enhanced version of locate, designed to find files on
a system via a central database.
A vulnerability has been found in Slocate versions up to and including 2.7
where a carefully crafted database could overflow a heap-based buffer. A
local user could exploit this vulnerability to gain "slocate" group
privileges and then read the entire slocate database. The Common
Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the
name CAN-2003-0848 to this issue.
These packages also fix a buffer overflow that affected unpatched versions
of Slocate prior to 2.7. This vulnerability could also allow a local user
to gain "slocate" group privileges. The Common Vulnerabilities and
Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2003-0056 to
this issue.
Users of slocate should update to these update packages, which contain a
backported security patch that corrects this issue.
Fedora Legacy would like to thank Patrik Hornik and Kevin Lindsay fir
disclosing these issues, as well as Michael Schwendt for providing a
backported fix for Red Hat Linux 7.2, 7.3, and 8.0.
4. Solution:
Before applying this update, make sure all previously released errata
relevant to your system have been applied.
To update all RPMs for your particular architecture, run:
rpm -Fvh [filenames]
where [filenames] is a list of the RPMs you wish to upgrade. Only those
RPMs which are currently installed will be updated. Those RPMs which are
not installed but included in the list will not be updated. Note that you
can also use wildcards (*.rpm) if your current directory *only* contains
the desired RPMs.
Please note that this update is also available via yum and apt. Many
people find this an easier way to apply updates. To use yum issue:
yum update
or to use apt:
apt-get update; apt-get upgrade
This will start an interactive process that will result in the appropriate
RPMs being upgraded on your system. This assumes that you have yum or
apt-get configured for obtaining Fedora Legacy content. Please visit
for directions on how to configure
yum and apt-get.
5. Bug IDs fixed:
- 1232 - slocate security fix rh72, rh73, rh80 /
CAN-2003-0848
6. RPMs required:
Red Hat Linux 7.2:
SRPMS:
i386:
Red Hat Linux 7.3:
SRPMS:
i386:
Red Hat Linux 8.0:
SRPMS:
i386:
7. Verification:
SHA1 sum Package Name
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50b9bf61a1c6066c2c0671cb9c38a18f07c9e5fa
7.2/updates/SRPMS/slocate-2.7-1.7.2.legacy.src.rpm
47b001b499d89b75a8bad2dafb884d9c393c1e9a
7.2/updates/i386/slocate-2.7-1.7.2.legacy.i386.rpm
b3654ebce54ae26617f2f18457fa9731542971ab
7.3/updates/SRPMS/slocate-2.7-1.7.3.legacy.src.rpm
eae25387e00a671974e0c43aa5b7f478dd04636f
7.3/updates/i386/slocate-2.7-1.7.3.legacy.i386.rpm
b2238d14cec50187139883c34265c905b8495109
8.0/updates/SRPMS/slocate-2.7-1.8.0.legacy.src.rpm
a22d3b45922b0123a0ca9035dd9f66093d63651d
8.0/updates/i386/slocate-2.7-1.8.0.legacy.i386.rpm
These packages are GPG signed by Fedora Legacy for security. Our key is
available from
You can verify each package with the following command:
rpm --checksig -v
If you only wish to verify that each package has not been corrupted or
tampered with, examine only the sha1sum with the following command:
sha1sum
8. References:
CVE -CVE-2003-0848
CVE -CVE-2003-0056
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2004:041.html
9. Contact:
The Fedora Legacy security contact is <secnotice@fedoralegacy.org>. More
project details at http://www.fedoralegacy.org
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Jesse Keating RHCE ( )
Fedora Legacy Team (http://www.fedoralegacy.org)
