CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2008-4085

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

Published: Sep 15, 2008 | Modified: Aug 08, 2017
CVSS 3.x
N/A
Source:
NVD
CVSS 2.x
4.4 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
Ubuntu

plaiter in Plait before 1.6 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on (1) cut.$$, (2) head.$$, (3) awk.$$, and (4) ps.$$ temporary files in /tmp/.

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
Plait Stephenjungels * 1.5.2 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 0.50 (including) 0.50 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 0.51 (including) 0.51 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 0.52 (including) 0.52 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 0.53 (including) 0.53 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 0.54 (including) 0.54 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 0.55 (including) 0.55 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 0.55.1 (including) 0.55.1 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 0.55.2 (including) 0.55.2 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 0.99 (including) 0.99 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 1.0 (including) 1.0 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 1.1 (including) 1.1 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 1.1.1 (including) 1.1.1 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 1.2.1 (including) 1.2.1 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 1.3 (including) 1.3 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 1.4 (including) 1.4 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 1.4.1 (including) 1.4.1 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 1.4.2 (including) 1.4.2 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 1.5 (including) 1.5 (including)
Plait Stephenjungels 1.5.1 (including) 1.5.1 (including)

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