FryskApplication · Redhat
CVE-2008-3278
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 · uneditedfrysk packages through 2008-08-05 as shipped in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 are built with an insecure RPATH set in the ELF header of multiple binaries in /usr/bin/f* (e.g. fcore, fcatch, fstack, fstep, ...) shipped in the package. A local attacker can exploit this vulnerability by running arbitrary code as another user.
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 · high confidenceThe frysk debugging packages for RHEL 5 contain multiple binaries (/usr/bin/fcore, fcatch, fstack, fstep, etc.) with insecure RPATH settings embedded in their ELF headers. This allows a local attacker to manipulate the library search path by placing malicious libraries in the RPATH directory, enabling execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of other users.
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
FryskApplication
<= 2008-08-05CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if frysk package is installedRun 'rpm -qa | grep -i frysk' to list installed frysk packagesAffected if Any frysk package with version date earlier than or equal to 2008-08-05 is installed
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Locate frysk binaries with RPATHRun 'find /usr/bin -name "fcore" -o -name "fcatch" -o -name "fstack" -o -name "fstep" 2>/dev/null' to find the affected binariesAffected if Any of these binaries exist in /usr/bin with RPATH set to a writable directory
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Examine RPATH values in ELF headersRun 'readelf -d /usr/bin/fcore | grep RPATH' (repeat for fcatch, fstack, fstep) to inspect the RPATH setting in each binaryAffected if RPATH points to an absolute path that is not $ORIGIN or a secure directory (such as /usr/lib or /lib)
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Verify RPATH directory permissionsCheck the directory listed in RPATH using 'ls -ld <RPATH_directory>' to determine if it is world-writableAffected if The RPATH directory is owned by root with world-writable permissions or allows unprivileged users to place files therein
A system is affected if any frysk binary (fcore, fcatch, fstack, fstep, etc.) has an RPATH set to a writable or insecure absolute path that could be exploited by a local attacker.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataReplace insecure RPATH values with secure alternatives (such as RPATH=$ORIGIN for relative paths) using the chrpath tool or rebuild the packages with hardened build flags; verify no world-writable directories are in the RPATH.
Fix this in Frysk
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-3278 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-3278 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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