CVE-2008-5704
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 · uneditedsrc/unit_test.c in gpsdrive (aka gpsdrive-scripts) 2.10~pre4 might allow local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the /tmp/gpsdrive-unit-test/proc temporary file, a different vector than CVE-2008-4959 and CVE-2008-5380.
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 confidenceA symlink attack vulnerability exists in gpsdrive-scripts where src/unit_test.c creates a temporary file at /tmp/gpsdrive-unit-test/proc without proper checks, allowing local users to manipulate the file location via symlink and 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<= 2.10= 1.32= 1.33= 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
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:H/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 is installedRun 'which gpsdrive' or 'dpkg -l | grep gpsdrive' (Debian) / 'rpm -qa | grep gpsdrive' (RHEL)Affected if gpsdrive is not installed at all, then not affected
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Determine installed gpsdrive versionRun 'gpsdrive --version' or query via package manager: 'dpkg -l gpsdrive' / 'rpm -qi gpsdrive'Affected if version is 1.32, 1.33, 2.09, or any version up to and including 2.10
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Check for gpsdrive-scripts package containing the vulnerable codeRun 'dpkg -l gpsdrive-scripts' or 'rpm -qa | grep gpsdrive-scripts' to see if the scripts package with src/unit_test.c is presentAffected if gpsdrive-scripts package is installed alongside the vulnerable gpsdrive version
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Verify the vulnerable temporary file creation behaviorInspect /tmp for the directory 'gpsdrive-unit-test' after running any gpsdrive utility, or examine the unit_test binary if it exists in the installationAffected if The directory /tmp/gpsdrive-unit-test can be created by gpsdrive and contains a 'proc' file, indicating the vulnerable code path is reachable
A system is affected if gpsdrive version 1.32, 1.33, 2.09, or any version through 2.10 is installed, and the gpsdrive-scripts package containing the vulnerable unit_test component is present and executable.
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 dataFix the code to use secure temporary file creation methods (e.g., mkstemp() with O_NOFOLLOW) or create files in a secure temporary directory with restricted permissions to prevent symlink exploitation.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-5704 — 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-2008-5704 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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