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

CVE-2008-4953

Medium
6.9/10

Summary

** DISPUTED ** firehol in firehol 1.256 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on (1) /tmp/.firehol-tmp-#####-*-* and (2) /tmp/firehol.conf temporary files. NOTE: the vendor disputes this vulnerability, stating that an attack "would require an attacker to create 1073741824*PID-RANGE symlinks."

  • MEDIUM
  • 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