CVE-2008-4474
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 · uneditedfreeradius-dialupadmin in freeradius 2.0.4 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on temporary files in (1) backup_radacct, (2) clean_radacct, (3) monthly_tot_stats, (4) tot_stats, and (5) truncate_radacct.
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 confidencefreeradius-dialupadmin in FreeRADIUS 2.0.4 creates temporary files insecurely in five administrative functions (backup_radacct, clean_radacct, monthly_tot_stats, tot_stats, truncate_radacct), allowing local users to perform symlink attacks that can overwrite arbitrary files on the system.
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= 2.0.4CVSS 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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Confirm FreeRADIUS versionRun 'radiusd -v' or check package manager (dpkg -l freeradius, rpm -qi freeradius)Affected if Version is 2.0.4
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Verify freeradius-dialupadmin is installedCheck for dialupadmin binary or package: which dialupadmin, find /usr -name 'dialupadmin', or check package managerAffected if freeradius-dialupadmin package or binary exists on the system
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Identify vulnerable scriptsLocate the five affected scripts in the dialupadmin directory: backup_radacct, clean_radacct, monthly_tot_stats, tot_stats, truncate_radacct - typically in /usr/lib/cgi-bin/dialupadmin or /var/www/cgi-bin/dialupadminAffected if Any of these five scripts exist on the system and are readable
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Check script contents for insecure tempfile usageExamine each identified script for tempfile or mktemp calls creating files in /tmp without proper safeguards (search for 'mktemp' combined with '/tmp')Affected if Scripts contain insecure temporary file creation patterns writing to predictable locations in /tmp
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Verify /tmp permissions allow symlink exploitationCheck /tmp permissions with 'ls -lad /tmp' - world-writable sticky bit (1777) is typical but allows symlink attacks if a program runs as rootAffected if The vulnerable scripts run with elevated privileges and /tmp is world-writable
User is affected if running FreeRADIUS 2.0.4 with freeradius-dialupadmin installed and the five administrative functions (backup_radacct, clean_radacct, monthly_tot_stats, tot_stats, truncate_radacct) are present and accessible.
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 dataApply the vendor patch or upgrade to a fixed version of FreeRADIUS. Restrict write access to /tmp and the dialupadmin directories to mitigate symlink attacks if patching is delayed.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-4474 — 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-2008-4474 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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