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FetaApplication · Debian

CVE-2008-4440

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-10-03
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
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
The to-upgrade plugin in feta 1.4.16 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink on the (1) /tmp/feta.install.$USER and (2) /tmp/feta.avail.$USER 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 confidence

The feta to-upgrade plugin creates temporary files in /tmp with predictable names (feta.install.$USER and feta.avail.$USER) without checking for existing symlinks, allowing local users to overwrite arbitrary files via symlink attacks leading to local privilege escalation.

MitigationReplace predictable temp file creation with secure methods (mkstemp) and add symlink detection checks (O_NOFOLLOW, lstat verification) before file operations, or upgrade if a patched version exists.

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
FetaApplication
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
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 checks

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

  1. Check if Feta package is installed
    Run `dpkg -l | grep -i feta` or `which feta` to see if the Feta package is present on the system
    Affected if Feta package is installed (all versions are affected)
  2. Determine installed Feta version
    Run `dpkg -l feta` or `feta --version` to identify the exact version number
    Affected if Any version of Feta is installed (Debian Feta: all versions are affected)
  3. Locate the to-upgrade plugin
    Search for the to-upgrade plugin file in Feta's plugin directories, typically found in /usr/share/feta/plugins/ or similar paths
    Affected if The to-upgrade plugin exists on the system (this plugin creates the vulnerable temp files)
  4. Inspect temp file creation behavior
    Monitor /tmp for files matching the pattern `feta.install.$USER` and `feta.avail.$USER` while Feta runs, or examine the to-upgrade plugin source code if accessible
    Affected if Temp files are created with predictable names (feta.install.<username> and feta.avail.<username>) in /tmp without symlink protection

A user is affected if the Feta package is installed with the to-upgrade plugin, as all versions create predictable temporary files in /tmp vulnerable to symlink attacks.

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

Replace predictable temp file creation with secure methods (mkstemp) and add symlink detection checks (O_NOFOLLOW, lstat verification) before file operations, or upgrade if a patched version exists.

Fix this in Feta Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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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-2008-4440 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
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