CVE-2019-1010238
📋 TL;DR
A heap buffer overflow vulnerability in Pango's text layout engine allows remote code execution when applications process specially crafted UTF-8 strings. This affects GNOME Pango 1.42 and later versions, potentially impacting any application using Pango for text rendering. Attackers can exploit this by passing malformed UTF-8 strings to functions like pango_itemize.
💻 Affected Systems
- GNOME Pango
📦 What is this software?
Fedora by Fedoraproject
Fedora by Fedoraproject
Pango by Gnome
Ubuntu Linux by Canonical
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution with the privileges of the application using Pango, potentially leading to complete system compromise.
Likely Case
Application crash (denial of service) or limited code execution depending on application context and memory protections.
If Mitigated
Application crash with no code execution if ASLR/DEP/stack canaries are properly implemented and effective.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires crafting specific UTF-8 strings and targeting applications that pass them to vulnerable functions.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Check vendor advisories for specific patched versions
Vendor Advisory: https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2571
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update Pango package using system package manager. 2. Restart affected applications. 3. For Red Hat systems, apply relevant RHSA patches.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input validation
allValidate and sanitize UTF-8 strings before passing to Pango functions
Memory protection hardening
linuxEnable ASLR, DEP, and other memory protection mechanisms
sysctl -w kernel.randomize_va_space=2
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict network access to applications using Pango
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized execution
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Pango version: pkg-config --modversion pangoCheck Version:
pkg-config --modversion pangoVerify Fix Applied:
Verify installed Pango version is patched per vendor advisory📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Application crashes with segmentation faults in Pango functions
- Memory corruption warnings in system logs
Network Indicators:
- Unusual network connections from applications using Pango
SIEM Query:
source="application_logs" AND ("segmentation fault" OR "buffer overflow") AND process="*pango*"🔗 References
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2019:2824
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2571
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2582
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2594
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:3234
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/pango/-/commits/main/pango/pango-bidi-type.c
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/pango/-/issues/342
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/D6HWAHXJ2ZXINYMANHPFDDCJFWUQ57M4/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/VFFF4FY7SCAYT3EKTYPGRN6BVKZTH7Y7/
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Aug/14
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201909-03
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4081-1/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4496
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2020.html
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2019:2824
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2571
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2582
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2594
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:3234
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/pango/-/commits/main/pango/pango-bidi-type.c
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/pango/-/issues/342
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/D6HWAHXJ2ZXINYMANHPFDDCJFWUQ57M4/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/VFFF4FY7SCAYT3EKTYPGRN6BVKZTH7Y7/
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Aug/14
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201909-03
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4081-1/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4496
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2020.html
