It was discovered that curl did not enforce any restrictions when following URL redirects. If a user or automated system were tricked into opening a URL to an untrusted server, an attacker could use redirects to gain access to abitrary files. This update changes curl behavior to prevent following “file” URLs after a redirect.
The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:
3 March 2009
A security issue affects these releases of Ubuntu and its derivatives:
It was discovered that curl did not enforce any restrictions when following URL redirects. If a user or automated system were tricked into opening a URL to an untrusted server, an attacker could use redirects to gain access to abitrary files. This update changes curl behavior to prevent following “file” URLs after a redirect.
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 upgrade is sufficient to effect the necessary changes.