Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2008-7291
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 · uneditedgri before 2.12.18 generates temporary files in an insecure way.
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 confidencegri before 2.12.18 creates temporary files using an insecure method, likely involving predictable file names or a TOCTOU (time-of-check-time-of-use) race condition. This allows local attackers to potentially overwrite or manipulate files via symlink attacks during the window between file creation and use.
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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 8.0= 9.0= 10.0< 2.12.18CVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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.
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Determine installed gri versionRun 'gri --version' or 'gri -v' to display the gri version numberAffected if Version reported is less than 2.12.18 (e.g., 2.12.17, 2.12.10, etc.)
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Check package version on Debian systemsRun 'dpkg -l | grep gri' or 'apt show gri' to query the installed package versionAffected if Package version shown is earlier than 2.12.18-1 or the version string contains a number lower than 2.12.18
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Identify gri binary locationRun 'which gri' or 'type gri' to locate the gri binaryAffected if The binary exists and the version check in step 1 or 2 shows a version below 2.12.18
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Monitor temporary file creation during gri executionObserve /tmp directory activity using 'ls -la /tmp' before and during gri operations, looking for predictably-named temporary files (common patterns: gri.*, gri-*, or numbered files)Affected if Temporary files appear with easily predictable names or without random suffixes, indicating insecure creation methods
You are affected if gri version is below 2.12.18 and the program creates temporary files with predictable names in /tmp during operation.
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.
dbcve · scoped2.12.18
Upgrade gri to version 2.12.18 or later which implements secure temporary file creation using proper methods (e.g., mkstemp with O_EXCL flag, or a secure temp file library).
gri version 2.12.18 or later
- Check the currently installed version of gri: dpkg -l | grep gri or gri --version
- For Debian systems, update the package repository: sudo apt-get update
- Upgrade gri to the fixed version: sudo apt-get install gri (or sudo apt-get install gri=2.12.18-*)
- Verify the installed version is 2.12.18 or later: dpkg -l | grep gri
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,376.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-7291 — 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-2008-7291 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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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
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