HTMLDOC is a HTML indexer and HTML to PS and PDF converter.
ANTHRAX666 reported an insecure call to the sscanf() function in the set_page_size() function in htmldoc/util.cxx. Nico Golde of the Debian Security Team found two more insecure calls in the write_type1() function in htmldoc/ps-pdf.cxx and the htmlLoadFontWidths() function in htmldoc/htmllib.cxx.
A remote attacker could entice a user to process a specially crafted HTML file using htmldoc, possibly resulting in the execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running the application. NOTE: Additional vectors via specially crafted AFM font metric files do not cross trust boundaries, as the files can only be modified by privileged users.
There is no known workaround at this time.
All HTMLDOC users should upgrade to the latest version:
# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=app-text/htmldoc-1.8.27-r1"