CrackLib is a library used to enforce strong passwords by comparing user selected passwords to words in chosen word lists.
A stack-based buffer overflow was discovered in the FascistGecosUser function of lib/fascist.c.
A local attacker could set a specially crafted GECOS field value in “/etc/passwd”; possibly resulting in the execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the process, a Denial of Service condition, or the escalation of privileges.
There is no known workaround at this time.
All CrackLib users should upgrade to the latest version:
# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=sys-libs/cracklib-2.9.6-r1"