An updated gaim package that fixes security issues is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1. This update has been rated as having critical security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team.
The Gaim application is a multi-protocol instant messaging client. A stack based buffer overflow bug was found in the way gaim processes a message containing a URL. A remote attacker could send a carefully crafted message resulting in the execution of arbitrary code on a victim's machine. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2005-1261 to this issue. A bug in the way Gaim processes SNAC packets was discovered. It is possible that a remote attacker could send a specially crafted SNAC packet to a Gaim client, causing the client to stop responding. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2005-0472 to this issue. Users of Gaim are advised to upgrade to this updated package which contains gaim version 0.59.9 with backported patches to correct these issues.
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