CVE-2008-3927
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 · uneditedgenmsgidx in Tiger 3.2.2 allows local users to overwrite or delete arbitrary files via a symlink attack on temporary files.
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 confidencegenmsgidx in Tiger 3.2.2 creates temporary files in an insecure manner, allowing a local attacker to perform a symlink attack. By pre-creating a symlink with the expected temporary filename pointing to a target file (e.g., /etc/passwd or other sensitive file), the tool can be tricked into overwriting or deleting that target file when it 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= 3.2.2CVSS 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
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:L/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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Identify Tiger versionRun 'rpm -q tiger' or 'dpkg -l tiger' or check /usr/sbin/genmsgidx version bannerAffected if Installed version is exactly 3.2.2
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Locate genmsgidx binaryVerify the genmsgidx tool exists on the system at /usr/sbin/genmsgidx or similar pathAffected if The genmsgidx binary is present on the system
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Check if genmsgidx runs with elevated privilegesReview any cron jobs, scripts, or sudo configurations that invoke genmsgidx, and inspect file ownership/permissionsAffected if genmsgidx is configured to run as root or another privileged user
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Inspect /tmp for suspicious symlinksList all symlinks in /tmp directory, particularly looking for symlinks with predictable names that could match genmsgidx temp file patternAffected if Symlinks exist in /tmp pointing to sensitive files (e.g., /etc/passwd) with names matching the expected temp file pattern used by genmsgidx
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Monitor genmsgidx executionObserve or log the next execution of genmsgidx to see what temporary file path it attempts to createAffected if The tool creates temporary files in an insecure manner (e.g., without O_EXCL flag or using predictably-named files in /tmp)
A user is affected if Tiger version 3.2.2 is installed and genmsgidx runs with elevated privileges while an attacker can pre-create symlinks in /tmp with the expected temporary filename.
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 dataDo not run genmsgidx with elevated privileges. If a patch is unavailable, restrict permissions on the /tmp directory and ensure the tool runs in a controlled environment with limited local access. Consider using tools that employ secure temporary file creation (e.g., mkstemp).
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-3927 — 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-2008-3927 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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