CVE-2008-4998
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 · uneditedpostinst in twiki 4.1.2 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the /tmp/twiki temporary file. NOTE: the vendor disputes this vulnerability, stating "this bug is invalid.
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 · moderate confidenceThe postinst installation script for TWiki 4.1.2 creates a temporary file at /tmp/twiki without checking for existing symlinks or using safe temporary file creation methods. A local attacker can pre-create a symlink at this location pointing to an arbitrary target file, causing the postinst script to overwrite that file when it executes.
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= 4.1.2CVSS 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 TWiki installation existsLook for TWiki installation directories such as /twiki, /var/www/twiki, or /opt/twiki. Check for twiki bin and lib paths.Affected if No TWiki installation is found, this CVE does not apply.
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Identify installed TWiki versionCheck the TWiki version file (often TWiki.pm in lib/TWiki.pm or a VERSION file in the installation root). Compare the version to 4.1.2.Affected if The installed version is not 4.1.2, this specific CVE does not apply.
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Locate and examine postinst scriptLook for postinst or preinst scripts in the TWiki installation (often in /twiki/installer or the original package). Search for references to /tmp/twiki in these scripts.Affected if The postinst script contains unsymlink-checked creation of /tmp/twiki, indicating the vulnerability is present.
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Check for residual /tmp/twiki symlinkRun 'ls -la /tmp/twiki' to see if a symlink exists at that location.Affected if A symlink at /tmp/twiki pointing to an unintended target exists, suggesting possible exploitation occurred.
You are affected if TWiki version 4.1.2 was installed and the postinst script creates /tmp/twiki without symlink checks.
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 mktemp or equivalent safe methods, add symlink detection checks before file creation, and ensure proper file permissions on temporary directories.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $2,848.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-4998 — 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-2008-4998 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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