Buffer overflow in the index menu code (menu_pad_string of menu.c) for Mutt 1.4.1 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via certain mail messages.

Mutt 1.4 contains a buffer overflow that could be exploited with a specially formed message, causing Mutt to crash or possibly execute arbitrary code.

Mutt is a text-based program for reading electronic mail. New mutt packages are available for Slackware 8.1, 9.0, 9.1, and -current.
These have been upgraded to version 1.4.2i to fix a buffer overflow that could lead to a machine compromise. All sites using mutt should upgrade to the new mutt package.

Mutt 1.4.1 and older versions are vulnerable to a buffer overflow vulnerability in the code which is used to draw menus on screen. An attacker could exploit this flaw to prevent a user from reading his mail using this client (thus corrupting a full mailbox), or possibly to execute code remotely.

A bug in mutt was reported by Neils Heinen that could allow a remote attacker to send a carefully crafted mail message that can cause mutt to segfault and possibly execute arbitrary code as the user running mutt.

The updated packages have been patched to correct the problem.

New mutt packages that fix a remotely-triggerable crash in the menu drawing code are now available.

Mutt is a text-mode mail user agent.

A bug was found in the index menu code in versions of mutt. A remote attacker could send a carefully crafted mail message that can cause mutt to segfault and possibly execute arbitrary code as the victim.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2004-0078 to this issue.

It is recommended that all mutt users upgrade to these updated packages, which contain a backported security patch and are not vulnerable to this issue.

Red Hat would like to thank Niels Heinen for reporting this issue.

Note: mutt-1.2.5.1 in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 is not vulnerable to this issue.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
37471	FreeBSD : Buffer overflow in Mutt 1.4 (67c05283-5d62-11d8-80e3-0020ed76ef5a)	Nessus	FreeBSD Local Security Checks	high
18772	Slackware 8.1 / 9.0 / 9.1 / current : mutt security update (SSA:2004-043-01)	Nessus	Slackware Local Security Checks	high
1188	Mutt < 1.4.2 menu.c menu_pad_string Function Index Menu Code Remote Overflow DoS	Nessus Network Monitor	SMTP Clients	high
14110	Mandrake Linux Security Advisory : mutt (MDKSA-2004:010)	Nessus	Mandriva Local Security Checks	high
12461	RHEL 3 : mutt (RHSA-2004:050)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	high

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2004-0078

critical

Tenable Plugins

high

high

high

high

high