CVE-2012-3345
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 · uneditedioquake3 before r2253 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the /tmp/ioq3.pid temporary file.
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 confidenceioquake3 before r2253 creates a temporary file at /tmp/ioq3.pid without checking if a symlink already exists at that path, allowing a local attacker to create a malicious symlink that causes the application to overwrite arbitrary files with attacker-controlled content.
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<= r2252CVSS 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
- High
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:H/Au:N/C:N/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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Identify ioquake3 installation and versionRun 'ioquake3 -v' or check the installed package version using your system's package manager (dpkg -l, rpm -qa, etc.)Affected if Installed version is ioquake3 with revision r2252 or earlier (versions without the fix)
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Check for the vulnerable temporary fileLook for /tmp/ioq3.pid file and inspect if it is a symlink pointing elsewhere: 'ls -la /tmp/ioq3.pid'Affected if A symlink exists at /tmp/ioq3.pid that was created by an untrusted user, or the file is writable by other users
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Verify temporary file creation methodExamine the ioquake3 source code or binary for temporary file creation behavior, specifically checking if O_NOFOLLOW flag is used when creating /tmp/ioq3.pidAffected if The code creates /tmp/ioq3.pid without checking for existing symlinks (O_NOFOLLOW not used)
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Check /tmp directory permissionsVerify that /tmp has sticky bit set (drwxrwxrwt) and that untrusted users cannot pre-create /tmp/ioq3.pid before ioquake3 runsAffected if Multiple users have write access to /tmp without restrictions, allowing symlink pre-creation
A user is affected if running ioquake3 version r2252 or earlier where the application creates /tmp/ioq3.pid without validating that a symlink does not already exist at that path.
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 dataUpgrade ioquake3 to r2253 or later, which implements safe temporary file handling (using O_NOFOLLOW or equivalent symlink checks). As a workaround, ensure /tmp/ioq3.pid cannot be pre-created by untrusted users.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-3345 — 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-2012-3345 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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