CVE-2008-3279
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 · uneditedUntrusted search path vulnerability in libbrlttybba.so in brltty 3.7.2 allows local users to gain privileges via a crafted library, related to an incorrect RPATH setting.
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 confidencebrltty 3.7.2 contains an incorrect RPATH setting in the libbrlttybba.so library, causing the dynamic linker to search an untrusted path for library dependencies. Local attackers can place a malicious library in that path to achieve arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges when the application runs.
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= 3.7.2CVSS 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
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
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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Confirm brltty installation and versionRun 'brltty --version' or check your package manager for brltty version (dpkg -l brltty, rpm -qi brltty, etc.)Affected if Version is 3.7.2 exactly
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Locate the libbrlttybba.so libraryRun 'find / -name libbrlttybba.so 2>/dev/null' to find the library file, typically in /usr/lib or /usr/local/libAffected if The library exists on the system
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Extract RPATH from the libraryRun 'readelf -d /path/to/libbrlttybba.so | grep RPATH' or 'objdump -p /path/to/libbrlttybba.so' to view the RPATH settingAffected if RPATH is set to a non-standard or untrusted directory path (especially relative paths or world-writable locations)
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Check library search behaviorRun 'ldd /path/to/libbrlttybba.so' to see which paths the dynamic linker will search for dependenciesAffected if Output shows searches in directories outside trusted system paths like /usr/lib or /lib
A system is affected if brltty version 3.7.2 is installed AND the libbrlttybba.so library has an RPATH setting pointing to an untrusted or writable directory, allowing a local attacker to inject malicious libraries.
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 dataRebuild brltty 3.7.2 with corrected RPATH settings (preferably using $ORIGIN-based relative paths or absolute paths to trusted directories), or upgrade to a patched version if available. Verify library search paths using ldd and objdump -p to confirm no untrusted paths are used.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-3279 — 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-2008-3279 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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