CVE-2008-7273
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 · uneditedA symlink issue exists in Iceweasel-firegpg before 0.6 due to insecure tempfile handling.
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 confidenceA symlink vulnerability exists in Iceweasel-firegpg before version 0.6 due to insecure temporary file handling. The plugin creates temporary files in a predictable manner without proper safeguards, allowing a local attacker to potentially overwrite or manipulate files via symlink attacks to escalate privileges or cause denial of service.
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< 0.6CVSS 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
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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.
-
Locate the FireGPG plugin installationSearch for FireGPG/Iceweasel-firegpg extension files in typical plugin directories such as ~/.mozilla/firefox/*/extensions/ or /usr/lib/iceweasel/plugins/, or check Iceweasel/Firefox Add-ons manager for installed extensionsAffected if FireGPG plugin files are found in the system
-
Identify the installed FireGPG versionInspect the install.rdf or manifest.json file within the FireGPG extension directory for the version number, or view the extension details in Iceweasel/Firefox Add-ons managerAffected if The version field shows a number less than 0.6, or no version is displayed for an older FireGPG installation
-
Confirm the plugin is enabledOpen Iceweasel/Firefox, go to Add-ons > Extensions, and verify that FireGPG appears in the list with an Enabled status, or check if the FireGPG menu/toolbar button is visible in the browserAffected if FireGPG is listed as Enabled or Active in the browser extension manager
-
Verify temp file creation behaviorMonitor Iceweasel/Firefox process while using FireGPG functions (such as encrypting or signing) using filesystem monitoring tools like lsof or inotifywatch to observe temporary file creation in /tmp or temporary directoriesAffected if Temporary files are created with predictable naming patterns (such as sequential numbers or timestamp-based names) rather than randomized secure names
A user is affected if Iceweasel-firegpg (FireGPG) is installed and enabled with a version lower than 0.6, as this version range contains the insecure temporary file handling vulnerable to symlink attacks.
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 data0.6
Upgrade Iceweasel-firegpg to version 0.6 or later, which implements secure tempfile handling with proper symlink protection and randomized temporary file creation.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-7273 — 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-2008-7273 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data