CVE-2017-8934
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 · uneditedPCManFM 1.2.5 insecurely uses /tmp for a socket file, allowing a local user to cause a denial of service (application unavailability).
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 confidencePCManFM 1.2.5 creates its socket file in the world-writable /tmp directory, which allows any local user to pre-create the socket path or exploit race conditions to prevent the application from binding its socket, resulting in 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= 1.2.5CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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.
-
Identify PCManFM versionRun 'pcmanfm --version' or check your package manager (dpkg -l | grep pcmanfm, rpm -qa | grep pcmanfm, or pacman -Q pcmanfm)Affected if The version listed is 1.2.5 exactly
-
Locate PCManFM socket filesSearch for pcmanfm socket files in /tmp: ls -la /tmp/*pcmanfm* or ls -la /tmp/.pcmanfm* 2>/dev/nullAffected if A socket file exists in /tmp directory (path begins with /tmp/)
-
Check socket file permissions and ownershipRun 'ls -la' on the found socket file to see if /tmp is world-writable and if the socket can be pre-created by any local userAffected if The /tmp directory permissions allow any local user to create files in it (typically drwxrwxrwt) and the socket or its parent directory is accessible
-
Verify runtime directory configurationCheck if XDG_RUNTIME_DIR environment variable is set and being used: 'echo $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR' and inspect PCManFM config for runtime directory settingsAffected if XDG_RUNTIME_DIR is not set or PCManFM is configured to fall back to /tmp for socket creation
You are affected if PCManFM version 1.2.5 is installed and the application creates its socket file in /tmp instead of a user-specific directory like XDG_RUNTIME_DIR.
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 dataConfigure PCManFM to use a secure, user-specific runtime directory (such as XDG_RUNTIME_DIR) instead of /tmp for socket file creation, ensuring proper permissions and preventing symlink or pre-creation attacks.
- 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-2017-8934 — 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-2017-8934 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