VladtheenterprisingApplication · Vladtheenterprising Project
CVE-2014-4996
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 · uneditedlib/vlad/dba/mysql.rb in the VladTheEnterprising gem 0.2 for Ruby allows local users to write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack on /tmp/my.cnf.#{target_host}.
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 confidenceThe VladTheEnterprising gem 0.2 for Ruby contains a symlink attack vulnerability in lib/vlad/dba/mysql.rb. Local users can write to arbitrary files by pre-creating a symlink at /tmp/my.cnf.#{target_host} before the application writes its MySQL configuration file there, allowing overwrite of any accessible file.
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
VladtheenterprisingApplication
= 0.2.0CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
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 Vladtheenterprising gem is installedRun 'gem list vladtheenterprising' or check your Gemfile for the vladtheenterprising gem dependencyAffected if The gem is installed and its version is 0.2.0
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Locate the vulnerable mysql.rb fileSearch for lib/vlad/dba/mysql.rb in your project directory or gem installation pathAffected if The file exists and belongs to Vladtheenterprising version 0.2.0
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Identify if the MySQL DBA task is invokedReview your deployment scripts or rake tasks for calls to 'vlad:mysql' or 'vlad:mysql:create'Affected if The Vlad deployment task that writes MySQL configuration to /tmp is being executed
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Check /tmp directory permissionsRun 'ls -ld /tmp' to verify sticky bit is set and permissions are restrictive (1777)Affected if The /tmp directory allows untrusted users to create files or symlinks (missing sticky bit or overly permissive ACLs)
You are affected if Vladtheenterprising gem version 0.2.0 is installed and your deployment process invokes the MySQL configuration task, especially if /tmp has weak permissions allowing symlink pre-creation.
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 dataRestrict permissions on /tmp to prevent untrusted symlink creation, use a secure application-specific config directory instead of /tmp, or upgrade to a patched version of the gem if available.
Fix this in Vladtheenterprising
Scoped from the published advisory
- 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-2014-4996 — 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-2014-4996 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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