Debian DSA-099-1 : xchat - IRC session hijacking

high Nessus Plugin ID 14936

Synopsis

The remote Debian host is missing a security-related update.

Description

zen-parse found a vulnerability in the XChat IRC client that allows an attacker to take over the users IRC session.

It is possible to trick XChat IRC clients into sending arbitrary commands to the IRC server they are on, potentially allowing social engineering attacks, channel takeovers, and denial of service. This problem exists in versions 1.4.2 and 1.4.3. Later versions of XChat are vulnerable as well, but this behaviour is controlled by the configuration variable >>percascii<<, which defaults to 0. If it is set to 1 then the problem becomes apparent in 1.6/1.8 as well.

Solution

This problem has been fixed in upstream version 1.8.7 and in version 1.4.3-1 for the current stable Debian release (2.2) with a patch provided from the upstream author Peter Zelezny. We recommend that you upgrade your XChat packages immediately, since this problem is already actively being exploited.

See Also

http://online.securityfocus.com/archive/1/249113

http://www.debian.org/security/2002/dsa-099

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 14936

File Name: debian_DSA-099.nasl

Version: 1.18

Type: local

Agent: unix

Published: 9/29/2004

Updated: 1/4/2021

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.3

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:xchat, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:2.2

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/Debian/release, Host/Debian/dpkg-l

Patch Publication Date: 1/12/2002

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2002-0006

DSA: 099