An updated lftp package that fixes one security issue and various bugs is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

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

LFTP is a sophisticated file transfer program for the FTP and HTTP protocols. Like bash, it has job control and uses the readline library for input. It has bookmarks, built-in mirroring, and can transfer several files in parallel. It is designed with reliability in mind.

It was discovered that lftp did not properly escape shell metacharacters when generating shell scripts using the 'mirror
--script' command. A mirroring script generated to download files from a malicious FTP server could allow an attacker controlling the FTP server to run an arbitrary command as the user running lftp.
(CVE-2007-2348)

This update also fixes the following bugs :

* when using the 'mirror' or 'get' commands with the '-c' option, lftp did not check for some specific conditions that could result in the program becoming unresponsive, hanging and the command not completing.
For example, when waiting for a directory listing, if lftp received a '226' message, denoting an empty directory, it previously ignored the message and kept waiting. With this update, these conditions are properly checked for and lftp no longer hangs when '-c' is used with 'mirror' or 'get'. (BZ#422881)

* when using the 'put', 'mput' or 'reput' commands over a Secure FTP (SFTP) connection, specifying the '-c' option sometimes resulted in corrupted files of incorrect size. With this update, using these commands over SFTP with the '-c' option works as expected, and transferred files are no longer corrupted in the transfer process.
(BZ#434294)

* previously, LFTP linked to the OpenSSL library. OpenSSL's license is, however, incompatible with LFTP's GNU GPL license and LFTP does not include an exception allowing OpenSSL linking. With this update, LFTP links to the GnuTLS (GNU Transport Layer Security) library, which is released under the GNU LGPL license. Like OpenSSL, GnuTLS implements the SSL and TLS protocols, so functionality has not changed. (BZ#458777)

* running 'help mirror' from within lftp only presented a sub-set of the available options compared to the full list presented in the man page. With this update, running 'help mirror' in lftp presents the same list of mirror options as is available in the Commands section of the lftp man page. (BZ#461922)

* LFTP imports gnu-lib from upstream. Subsequent to gnu-lib switching from GNU GPLv2 to GNU GPLv3, the LFTP license was internally inconsistent, with LFTP licensed as GNU GPLv2 but portions of the package apparently licensed as GNU GPLv3 because of changes made by the gnu-lib import. With this update, LFTP itself switches to GNU GPLv3, resolving the inconsistency. (BZ#468858)

* when the 'ls' command was used within lftp to present a directory listing on a remote system connected to via HTTP, file names containing spaces were presented incorrectly. This update corrects this behavior. (BZ#504591)

* the default alias 'edit' did not define a default editor. If EDITOR was not set in advance by the system, lftp attempted to execute '~/.lftp/edit.tmp.$$' (which failed because the file is not set to executable). The edit alias also did not support tab-completion of file names and incorrectly interpreted file names containing spaces.
The updated package defines a default editor (vi) in the absence of a system-defined EDITOR. The edit alias now also supports tab-completion and handles file names containing spaces correctly for both downloading and uploading. (BZ#504594)

Note: This update upgrades LFTP from version 3.7.3 to upstream version 3.7.11, which incorporates a number of further bug fixes to those noted above. For details regarding these fixes, refer to the '/usr/share/doc/lftp-3.7.11/NEWS' file after installing this update.
(BZ#308721)

All LFTP users are advised to upgrade to this updated package, which resolves these issues.

The remote Oracle Linux 5 host has a package installed that is affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the ELSA-2009-1278 advisory.

    - Resolves: #239334 solves CVE-2007-2348

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Oracle Linux security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote MiracleLinux 3 host has a package installed that is affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the AXSA:2009-390:01 advisory.

    LFTP is a sophisticated ftp/http file transfer program. Like bash, it has job control and uses the     readline library for input. It has bookmarks, built-in mirroring, and can transfer several files in     parallel. It is designed with reliability in mind.
    Security bugs fixed by this release:
    CVE-2007-2348     mirror --script in lftp before 3.5.9 does not properly quote shell metacharacters, which might allow     remote user-assisted attackers to execute shell commands via a malicious script. NOTE: it is not clear     whether this issue crosses security boundaries, since the script already supports commands such as get     which could overwrite executable files.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the MiracleLinux security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

CVE-2007-2348 lftp mirror --script does not escape names and targets of symbolic links

It was discovered that lftp did not properly escape shell metacharacters when generating shell scripts using the 'mirror
--script' command. A mirroring script generated to download files from a malicious FTP server could allow an attacker controlling the FTP server to run an arbitrary command as the user running lftp.
(CVE-2007-2348)

This update also fixes the following bugs :

  - when using the 'mirror' or 'get' commands with the '-c'     option, lftp did not check for some specific conditions     that could result in the program becoming unresponsive,     hanging and the command not completing. For example,     when waiting for a directory listing, if lftp received a     '226' message, denoting an empty directory, it     previously ignored the message and kept waiting. With     this update, these conditions are properly checked for     and lftp no longer hangs when '-c' is used with 'mirror'     or 'get'. (BZ#422881)

  - when using the 'put', 'mput' or 'reput' commands over a     Secure FTP (SFTP) connection, specifying the '-c' option     sometimes resulted in corrupted files of incorrect size.
    With this update, using these commands over SFTP with     the '-c' option works as expected, and transferred files     are no longer corrupted in the transfer process.
    (BZ#434294)

  - previously, LFTP linked to the OpenSSL library.
    OpenSSL's license is, however, incompatible with LFTP's     GNU GPL license and LFTP does not include an exception     allowing OpenSSL linking. With this update, LFTP links     to the GnuTLS (GNU Transport Layer Security) library,     which is released under the GNU LGPL license. Like     OpenSSL, GnuTLS implements the SSL and TLS protocols, so     functionality has not changed. (BZ#458777)

  - running 'help mirror' from within lftp only presented a     sub-set of the available options compared to the full     list presented in the man page. With this update,     running 'help mirror' in lftp presents the same list of     mirror options as is available in the Commands section     of the lftp man page. (BZ#461922)

  - LFTP imports gnu-lib from upstream. Subsequent to     gnu-lib switching from GNU GPLv2 to GNU GPLv3, the LFTP     license was internally inconsistent, with LFTP licensed     as GNU GPLv2 but portions of the package apparently     licensed as GNU GPLv3 because of changes made by the     gnu-lib import. With this update, LFTP itself switches     to GNU GPLv3, resolving the inconsistency. (BZ#468858)

  - when the 'ls' command was used within lftp to present a     directory listing on a remote system connected to via     HTTP, file names containing spaces were presented     incorrectly. This update corrects this behavior.
    (BZ#504591)

  - the default alias 'edit' did not define a default     editor. If EDITOR was not set in advance by the system,     lftp attempted to execute '~/.lftp/edit.tmp.$$' (which     failed because the file is not set to executable). The     edit alias also did not support tab-completion of file     names and incorrectly interpreted file names containing     spaces. The updated package defines a default editor     (vi) in the absence of a system-defined EDITOR. The edit     alias now also supports tab-completion and handles file     names containing spaces correctly for both downloading     and uploading. (BZ#504594)

Note: This update upgrades LFTP from version 3.7.3 to upstream version 3.7.11, which incorporates a number of further bug fixes to those noted above. For details regarding these fixes, refer to the '/usr/share/doc/lftp-3.7.11/NEWS' file after installing this update.
(BZ#308721)

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

  - mirror --script in lftp before 3.5.9 does not properly quote shell metacharacters, which might allow     remote user-assisted attackers to execute shell commands via a malicious script. NOTE: it is not clear     whether this issue crosses security boundaries, since the script already supports commands such as get     which could overwrite executable files. (CVE-2007-2348)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

The remote Redhat Enterprise Linux 5 host has a package installed that is affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the RHSA-2009:1278 advisory.

    LFTP is a sophisticated file transfer program for the FTP and HTTP     protocols. Like bash, it has job control and uses the readline library for     input. It has bookmarks, built-in mirroring, and can transfer several files     in parallel. It is designed with reliability in mind.

    It was discovered that lftp did not properly escape shell metacharacters     when generating shell scripts using the mirror --script command. A     mirroring script generated to download files from a malicious FTP server     could allow an attacker controlling the FTP server to run an arbitrary     command as the user running lftp. (CVE-2007-2348)

    This update also fixes the following bugs:

    * when using the mirror or get commands with the -c option, lftp did     not check for some specific conditions that could result in the program     becoming unresponsive, hanging and the command not completing. For example,     when waiting for a directory listing, if lftp received a 226 message,     denoting an empty directory, it previously ignored the message and kept     waiting. With this update, these conditions are properly checked for and     lftp no longer hangs when -c is used with mirror or get. (BZ#422881)

    * when using the put, mput or reput commands over a Secure FTP (SFTP)     connection, specifying the -c option sometimes resulted in corrupted     files of incorrect size. With this update, using these commands over SFTP     with the -c option works as expected, and transferred files are no     longer corrupted in the transfer process. (BZ#434294)

    * previously, LFTP linked to the OpenSSL library. OpenSSL's license is,     however, incompatible with LFTP's GNU GPL license and LFTP does not include     an exception allowing OpenSSL linking. With this update, LFTP links to the     GnuTLS (GNU Transport Layer Security) library, which is released under the     GNU LGPL license. Like OpenSSL, GnuTLS implements the SSL and TLS     protocols, so functionality has not changed. (BZ#458777)

    * running help mirror from within lftp only presented a sub-set of the     available options compared to the full list presented in the man page. With     this update, running help mirror in lftp presents the same list of mirror     options as is available in the Commands section of the lftp man page.
    (BZ#461922)

    * LFTP imports gnu-lib from upstream. Subsequent to gnu-lib switching from     GNU GPLv2 to GNU GPLv3, the LFTP license was internally inconsistent, with     LFTP licensed as GNU GPLv2 but portions of the package apparently licensed     as GNU GPLv3 because of changes made by the gnu-lib import. With this     update, LFTP itself switches to GNU GPLv3, resolving the inconsistency.
    (BZ#468858)

    * when the ls command was used within lftp to present a directory listing     on a remote system connected to via HTTP, file names containing spaces were     presented incorrectly. This update corrects this behavior. (BZ#504591)

    * the default alias edit did not define a default editor. If EDITOR was     not set in advance by the system, lftp attempted to execute     ~/.lftp/edit.tmp.$$ (which failed because the file is not set to     executable). The edit alias also did not support tab-completion of file     names and incorrectly interpreted file names containing spaces. The updated     package defines a default editor (vi) in the absence of a system-defined     EDITOR. The edit alias now also supports tab-completion and handles file     names containing spaces correctly for both downloading and uploading.
    (BZ#504594)

    Note: This update upgrades LFTP from version 3.7.3 to upstream version     3.7.11, which incorporates a number of further bug fixes to those noted     above. For details regarding these fixes, refer to the     /usr/share/doc/lftp-3.7.11/NEWS file after installing this update.
    (BZ#308721)

    All LFTP users are advised to upgrade to this updated package, which     resolves these issues.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Red Hat Enterprise Linux security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Published	Updated	Severity
43780	CentOS 5 : lftp (CESA-2009:1278)	Nessus	CentOS Local Security Checks	1/6/2010	1/4/2021	medium
180603	Oracle Linux 5 : lftp (ELSA-2009-1278)	Nessus	Oracle Linux Local Security Checks	9/7/2023	10/22/2024	critical
283940	MiracleLinux 3 : lftp-3.7.11-4AXS3 (AXSA:2009-390:01)	Nessus	Miracle Linux Local Security Checks	1/14/2026	1/14/2026	critical
60654	Scientific Linux Security Update : lftp on SL5.x i386/x86_64	Nessus	Scientific Linux Local Security Checks	8/1/2012	1/14/2021	medium
217039	Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2007-2348	Nessus	Misc.	3/3/2025	1/28/2026	critical
40836	RHEL 5 : lftp (RHSA-2009:1278)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	9/2/2009	11/4/2024	critical

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