What is CVE-2008-4996?

CVE-2008-4996 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Initramfs-Tools, classified under Improper Link Resolution Before File Access. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2008-11-07.

How severe is CVE-2008-4996?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.

Vulnerability in Debian Initramfs-Tools

CVE-2008-4996

init in initramfs-tools 0.92f allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the /tmp/initramfs.debug temporary file. NOTE: the vendor disputes this vulnerability, stating that "init is [used in] a single-user context; there's no possibility that this is exploitable.

EPSS: 0.004 (35.6th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.

Affected products

Debian Initramfs-tools — versions 0.92f
N/a — versions n/a

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-59 — Improper Link Resolution Before File Access

References

cve@mitre.org (Exploit, x_refsource_MISC)
cve@mitre.org (mailing-list, x_refsource_MLIST)
cve@mitre.org (x_refsource_MISC)
cve@mitre.org (x_refsource_MISC)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2008-4996?: CVE-2008-4996 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Initramfs-Tools, classified under Improper Link Resolution Before File Access. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2008-11-07.
How severe is CVE-2008-4996?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.