Honeyd CommonApplication · Debian
CVE-2008-3928
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 · uneditedtest.sh in Honeyd 1.5c might allow local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a temporary file.
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 test.sh script in Honeyd 1.5c creates temporary files in an insecure manner, allowing local users to perform a symlink attack. By pre-creating a symbolic link with the same name as the temporary file, a local attacker can cause test.sh to write to an arbitrary file location, potentially overwriting system files or sensitive data.
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
Honeyd CommonApplication
= 1.5CVSS 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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Check if Honeyd is installed on the systemRun 'dpkg -l | grep honeyd' on Debian-based systems, or 'rpm -qa | grep -i honeyd' on RHEL-based systems. Alternatively, search for honeyd binaries with 'which honeyd' or 'find /usr -name honeyd 2>/dev/null'.Affected if Honeyd is installed and the package version is 1.5 (Debian Honeyd Common = 1.5)
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Verify the exact version of the installed Honeyd packageRun 'dpkg -s honeyd-common' or 'rpm -qi honeyd-common' to display package metadata including version number.Affected if The installed version is 1.5 exactly (the affected version)
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Locate the test.sh script in the Honeyd installationSearch for the test.sh script: 'find /usr -name test.sh 2>/dev/null' or check typical locations like '/usr/share/honeyd/' and '/usr/lib/honeyd/'.Affected if The test.sh script exists in the Honeyd installation directory
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Examine test.sh for insecure temporary file creation patternsOpen the test.sh script and search for patterns like '> /tmp/filename' or 'echo ... > /tmp/' without using mktemp, mkstemp, or O_EXCL flags. Look for hardcoded temporary file paths that could be predicted or pre-created.Affected if The script uses insecure temporary file creation (e.g., redirection to predictable paths in /tmp without safeguards)
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Check file permissions on the directory containing test.shRun 'ls -la' on the directory containing test.sh to verify permissions. Also check if the /tmp directory has standard sticky-bit permissions (1777).Affected if The /tmp directory lacks proper restrictions or the script directory is world-writable
You are affected if Honeyd version 1.5 is installed and the test.sh script contains insecure temporary file creation patterns that allow symlink attacks.
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 temporary file creation with secure methods such as mktemp(1), mkstemp(3), or using the O_EXCL flag to prevent race conditions. Ensure the temporary file is created in a secure directory with appropriate permissions.
Fix this in Honeyd Common
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-3928 — 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-2008-3928 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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