The XFree86 Project has developed a patch to XFree86 version 3.3.2, the latest release of the software based on X11R6.3. Problems exist in both the xterm program and the Xaw library that allow user supplied data to cause buffer overflows in both the xterm program and any program that uses the Xaw library. A user may alter the font path used by a running X server. This path includes a list of directories which contain font files to be used by the server. This file describes the font names and font file names contained in the directory.
Servers running with real or effective uids of root are vulnerable.
These vulnerabilities can only be exploited by individuals with access to the local system. The only setuid-root program using the Xaw library that is supplied as part of the standard XFree86 distributions is xterm. Other distributions may include other such programs, including variants of xterm. Watch your X session die without a sigh. OpenLinux 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 systems with XFree86 older than 3.3.2 pl1.