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FileApplication

CVE-2007-2799

MEDIUM · 5.1 CVSS v2.0 Published 2007-05-23
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
60/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Integer overflow in the "file" program 4.20, when running on 32-bit systems, as used in products including The Sleuth Kit, might allow user-assisted attackers to execute arbitrary code via a large file that triggers an overflow that bypasses an assert() statement. NOTE: this issue is due to an incorrect patch for CVE-2007-1536.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

Integer overflow in the file program version 4.20 on 32-bit systems allows user-assisted arbitrary code execution via large files that bypass an assert() statement. This is a regression from an incomplete fix for CVE-2007-1536, affecting The Sleuth Kit and potentially other products using the vulnerable file utility.

MitigationUpgrade the file program to a version beyond 4.20 that contains the corrected patch, and similarly update any affected products like The Sleuth Kit that incorporate the vulnerable file utility.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
FileApplication
Affected:= 4.2
The Sleuth KithApplication
Affected:all versions

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check file command version
    Run 'file --version' or 'file -v' to determine the installed version of the file utility
    Affected if Version is 4.20 on a 32-bit system
  2. Verify system architecture
    Run 'uname -m' or 'getconf LONG_BIT' to determine if the system is 32-bit
    Affected if System is 32-bit (i386, i686, or LONG_BIT returns 32)
  3. Check if Sleuth Kit is installed
    Run 'which fls' or 'which icat' to check for Sleuth Kit forensic tools
    Affected if Sleuth Kit utilities are present and the bundled file utility is version 4.20 or vulnerable
  4. Identify file utility used by Sleuth Kit
    Run 'file' against a test file via Sleuth Kit tools, or check Sleuth Kit documentation for bundled utility version
    Affected if Sleuth Kit is using a vulnerable version of the file utility (4.20 or earlier)

You are affected if the file command version is 4.20 on a 32-bit system, or if Sleuth Kit (which bundles the file utility) is in use on a 32-bit system with a vulnerable bundled version.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade the file program to a version beyond 4.20 that contains the corrected patch, and similarly update any affected products like The Sleuth Kit that incorporate the vulnerable file utility.

Fix this in File Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2007-2799 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data