CVE-2008-5380
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 · uneditedgpsdrive (aka gpsdrive-scripts) 2.09 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on an (a) /tmp/geo#####, a (b) /tmp/geocaching.loc, a (c) /tmp/geo#####.*, or a (d) /tmp/geo.* temporary file, related to the (1) geo-code and (2) geo-nearest scripts, different vectors than CVE-2008-4959.
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 confidencegpsdrive-scripts 2.09 creates temporary files in /tmp with predictable names (geo#####, geocaching.loc, geo#####.*, geo.*) without proper symlink protection. Local users can pre-create symlinks with these names pointing to arbitrary files, causing the geo-code and geo-nearest scripts to overwrite the target files when they write to the temp files.
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= 2.09CVSS 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 gpsdrive-scripts package is installedRun 'dpkg -l gpsdrive-scripts' or 'rpm -qi gpsdrive-scripts' depending on your package manager, or search for gpsdrive scripts in your systemAffected if Package is installed with version 2.09 specifically
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Locate the vulnerable scripts geo-code and geo-nearestRun 'which geo-code geo-nearest' or 'find / -name "geo-code" -o -name "geo-nearest" 2>/dev/null' to find these scriptsAffected if These scripts exist and are executable on the system
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Examine the temporary file creation in the scriptsUse 'cat' or 'less' on the geo-code and geo-nearest scripts and search for temp file creation patterns involving /tmp/geoAffected if The scripts create temporary files in /tmp using predictable names like geo#####, geocaching.loc, geo#####.*, or geo.* without O_EXCL flag or mktemp
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Verify symlink vulnerability existsCheck if the script uses open() or similar without O_EXCL flag for temp file creation, or uses predictable file naming in /tmpAffected if The scripts use insecure methods like '> /tmp/geoNNNNN' or similar without atomic creation protection
A system is affected if gpsdrive-scripts version 2.09 is installed AND the geo-code or geo-nearest scripts create temp files in /tmp with predictable names without symlink protection.
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) or mkstemp(3), ensuring O_EXCL flag is used or files are created atomically. Alternatively, use a private temporary directory with restricted permissions.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-5380 — 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-2008-5380 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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