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

CVE-2008-1078

High
7.2/10

Summary

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.

  • LOW
  • LOCAL
  • NONE
  • COMPLETE
  • COMPLETE
  • COMPLETE

CWE-59 - Improper Link Resolution Before File Access

'Improper link resolution before file access' occurs when software accesses a file resource but fails to verify that the file isn't a link or shortcut to another file. An attacker can potentially gain access to arbitrary files and from there the impact can vary, depending on the application, from sensitive data exposure to remote code execution.

References

Advisory Timeline

  • Published