CVE-2008-5144
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 · uneditednvidia-cg-toolkit-installer in nvidia-cg-toolkit 2.0.0015 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the /tmp/nvidia-cg-toolkit-manifest 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 · moderate confidenceThe nvidia-cg-toolkit-installer version 2.0.0015 is vulnerable to a symlink attack via the /tmp/nvidia-cg-toolkit-manifest temporary file. The installer does not check if the temp file already exists as a symlink before writing to it, allowing a local attacker to create a symlink pointing to an arbitrary file (e.g., /etc/passwd) which the installer will then overwrite with elevated privileges during installation.
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= 2.0.0015CVSS 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 nvidia-cg-toolkit is installedRun 'dpkg -l | grep nvidia-cg-toolkit' on Debian-based systems, or 'rpm -qa | grep nvidia-cg-toolkit' on Red Hat-based systems, or check for presence of Cg toolkit binaries in /usr/bin or /usr/local/binAffected if The package is found and appears to be the Nvidia Cg Toolkit
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Verify the installed version is 2.0.0015Run 'dpkg -s nvidia-cg-toolkit' or 'rpm -qi nvidia-cg-toolkit' to display the package version information, or run 'CgCompiler -version' if the binary existsAffected if The version displayed is exactly 2.0.0015
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Inspect the installer for vulnerable temp file usageExamine the installer script or binary for references to /tmp/nvidia-cg-toolkit-manifest without O_EXCL or mkstemp() protection. Use 'strings' on the binary or review install scripts if availableAffected if The code writes to /tmp/nvidia-cg-toolkit-manifest without symlink safeguards
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Check for existing symlink at /tmp/nvidia-cg-toolkit-manifestRun 'ls -la /tmp/nvidia-cg-toolkit-manifest' to see if the file exists and whether it is a symlink pointing to a sensitive locationAffected if The file exists as a symlink to a privileged location such as /etc/passwd
A user is affected if the nvidia-cg-toolkit version 2.0.0015 is installed and the installer uses the unprotected /tmp/nvidia-cg-toolkit-manifest temp file path.
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 temp file creation with secure methods such as mkstemp() or O_EXCL flag to prevent symlink attacks. Alternatively, use a private temporary directory with restricted permissions. Since this is an old 2008 version, consider upgrading to a current nvidia-cg-toolkit release if available.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-5144 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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