Wget could be made to overwrite files.
HD Moore discovered that Wget contained a path traversal vulnerability when downloading symlinks using FTP. A malicious remote FTP server or a man in the middle could use this issue to cause Wget to overwrite arbitrary files, possibly leading to arbitrary code execution.
30 October 2014
A security issue affects these releases of Ubuntu and its derivatives:
Wget could be made to overwrite files.
HD Moore discovered that Wget contained a path traversal vulnerability when downloading symlinks using FTP. A malicious remote FTP server or a man in the middle could use this issue to cause Wget to overwrite arbitrary files, possibly leading to arbitrary code execution.
The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:
To update your system, please follow these instructions: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Security/Upgrades.
In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.