Vulnerabilities
Misconfiguration
Runtime Security
Compliance
CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2008-1078

Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')

Published: Feb 29, 2008 | Modified: Nov 21, 2024
CVSS 3.x
N/A
Source:
NVD
CVSS 2.x
7.2 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
Ubuntu
NEGLIGIBLE
Additional information
NVDhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-1078
CWEhttps://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/59.html

expn in the am-utils and net-fs packages for Gentoo, rPath Linux, and other distributions, allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the expn[PID] temporary file. NOTE: this is the same issue as CVE-2003-0308.1.

Weakness

The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.

Affected Software

Name Vendor Start Version End Version
Linux Gentoo * *
Rpath_linux Rpath * *

Potential Mitigations

  • Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
  • Denying access to a file can prevent an attacker from replacing that file with a link to a sensitive file. Ensure good compartmentalization in the system to provide protected areas that can be trusted.

References

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