CVE-2010-4005
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 · uneditedThe (1) tomboy and (2) tomboy-panel scripts in GNOME Tomboy 1.5.2 and earlier place a zero-length directory name in the LD_LIBRARY_PATH, which allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse shared library in the current working directory. NOTE: vector 1 exists because of an incorrect fix for CVE-2005-4790.2.
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 confidenceThe tomboy and tomboy-panel scripts in GNOME Tomboy 1.5.2 and earlier incorrectly set LD_LIBRARY_PATH with a zero-length directory entry (e.g., '::' or leading/trailing ':'). This causes the dynamic linker to include the current working directory in the library search path, allowing a local attacker to place a malicious shared library that gets loaded with the privileges of the user running the script.
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<= 1.5.2= 1.0.1= 1.2.2= 1.4.2= 1.5.1CVSS 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 installed Tomboy versionRun 'tomboy --version' or check your package manager (dpkg -l tomboy, rpm -q tomboy)Affected if Version is 1.5.2 or earlier, specifically 1.0.1, 1.2.2, 1.4.2, 1.5.1, or any version up to 1.5.2
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Verify tomboy is a script, not a binaryRun 'file $(which tomboy)' - if it shows 'script' or 'text executable' rather than 'ELF', inspect the script contentAffected if The tomboy executable is a shell or Python script (not a compiled binary)
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Inspect LD_LIBRARY_PATH in tomboy scriptUse 'grep LD_LIBRARY_PATH $(which tomboy)' to find the library path setting, then examine the full lineAffected if LD_LIBRARY_PATH contains a zero-length entry such as '::' (empty-empty), ':/some/path', '/some/path:', or similar patterns with leading/trailing colons
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Inspect LD_LIBRARY_PATH in tomboy-panel scriptRun 'which tomboy-panel' then 'grep LD_LIBRARY_PATH $(which tomboy-panel)' if the script existsAffected if The tomboy-panel script exists and its LD_LIBRARY_PATH contains zero-length directory entries (same patterns as step 3)
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Check for current working directory inclusionExamine if the LD_LIBRARY_PATH, when parsed by the dynamic linker, would include the current working directory (empty path component in LD_LIBRARY_PATH resolves to CWD)Affected if LD_LIBRARY_PATH has an empty element that causes the dynamic linker to search the current working directory for shared libraries
You are affected if you run a vulnerable version of Tomboy (1.5.2 or earlier) where the tomboy or tomboy-panel startup scripts set LD_LIBRARY_PATH with zero-length directory entries.
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 dataRemove any zero-length directory entries from LD_LIBRARY_PATH in the tomboy and tomboy-panel scripts, or upgrade to a patched version of Tomboy that addresses this issue.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2010-4005 — 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-2010-4005 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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