{"id":"CVE-2008-5394","aliases":["DEBIAN-CVE-2008-5394","DSA-1709-1","EUVD-2008-5371","GHSA-5848-87gf-wvqv"],"status":"published","title":"/bin/login in shadow 4.0.18.1 in Debian GNU/Linux, and probably other Linux distributions, allows...","description":"/bin/login in shadow 4.0.18.1 in Debian GNU/Linux, and probably other Linux distributions, allows local users in the utmp group to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a temporary file referenced in a line (aka ut_line) field in a utmp entry.","severity":{"version":"2.0","score":7.2,"vector":"AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C","level":"high","assessor":"primary","from":"nvd"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-07","score":0.00949,"percentile":0.61425,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":true,"fix_available":true},"cwes":["CWE-59"],"published":"2008-12-09T00:00:00Z","modified":"2026-10-23T17:47:35Z","exploits":[{"source":"exploitdb","id":"EDB-7313","title":"Debian - Symlink In Login Arbitrary File Ownership","type":"local","platform":"linux","date":"2008-12-01","verified":true,"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/7313"}],"fixes":[{"ecosystem":"Debian:12","package":"shadow","fixed_in":["1:4.1.1-6"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Debian:13","package":"shadow","fixed_in":["1:4.1.1-6"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Debian:14","package":"shadow","fixed_in":["1:4.1.1-6"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Debian:4.0","package":"shadow","fixed_in":["1:4.0.18.1-7+etch1"],"sources":["osv"]}],"affected":[{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Debian:12","package":"shadow","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1:4.1.1-6"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Debian:13","package":"shadow","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1:4.1.1-6"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Debian:14","package":"shadow","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1:4.1.1-6"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Debian:4.0","package":"shadow","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1:4.0.18.1-7+etch1"}]}],"versions":["1:4.0.18.1-7"]}],"products":[{"vendor":"debian","product":"shadow"}],"references":[{"url":"http://osvdb.org/52200","tags":["vdb-entry","x_refsource_OSVDB","x_transferred","web"]},{"url":"http://bugs.debian.org/505271","tags":["x_refsource_CONFIRM","x_transferred","web"]},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/32552","tags":["vdb-entry","x_refsource_BID","x_transferred","web"]},{"url":"http://bugs.debian.org/332198","tags":["x_refsource_CONFIRM","x_transferred","web"]},{"url":"https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/47037","tags":["vdb-entry","x_refsource_XF","x_transferred","web"]},{"url":"http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200903-24.xml","tags":["vendor-advisory","x_refsource_GENTOO","x_transferred","advisory"]},{"url":"http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2009:062","tags":["vendor-advisory","x_refsource_MANDRIVA","x_transferred","advisory"]},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/498769/100/0/threaded","tags":["mailing-list","x_refsource_BUGTRAQ","x_transferred","web"]},{"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/7313","tags":["exploit","x_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB","x_transferred","web"]},{"url":"http://securityreason.com/securityalert/4695","tags":["third-party-advisory","x_refsource_SREASON","x_transferred","web"]},{"url":"http://bugs.debian.org/505071","tags":["x_refsource_CONFIRM","x_transferred","web"]},{"url":"http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-695-1","tags":["vendor-advisory","x_refsource_UBUNTU","x_transferred","advisory"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-5394"},{"url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-5848-87gf-wvqv"},{"url":"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2008-5394","tags":["advisory"]}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2008-5394","description":"/bin/login in shadow 4.0.18.1 in Debian GNU/Linux, and probably other Linux distributions, allows local users in the utmp group to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a temporary file referenced in a line (aka ut_line) field in a utmp entry.","status":"published","published":"2008-12-09T00:00:00Z","modified":"2024-08-07T10:49:12.898Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:34:43.943588Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2008-5371","description":"/bin/login in shadow 4.0.18.1 in Debian GNU/Linux, and probably other Linux distributions, allows local users in the utmp group to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a temporary file referenced in a line (aka ut_line) field in a utmp entry.","status":"published","published":"2008-12-09T00:00:00Z","modified":"2024-08-07T10:49:12Z","updated_at":"2026-11-03T01:38:43.439061Z"}],"ghsa":[{"id":"GHSA-5848-87gf-wvqv","title":"/bin/login in shadow 4.0.18.1 in Debian GNU/Linux, and probably other Linux distributions, allows...","description":"/bin/login in shadow 4.0.18.1 in Debian GNU/Linux, and probably other Linux distributions, allows local users in the utmp group to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a temporary file referenced in a line (aka ut_line) field in a utmp entry.","status":"published","published":"2022-05-14T02:40:14Z","modified":"2023-02-02T05:06:03Z","cwes":["CWE-59"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:52:14.132111Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2008-5394","description":"/bin/login in shadow 4.0.18.1 in Debian GNU/Linux, and probably other Linux distributions, allows local users in the utmp group to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a temporary file referenced in a line (aka ut_line) field in a utmp entry.","status":"published","published":"2008-12-09T00:30:00.517Z","modified":"2026-06-16T22:59:53.377Z","cvss":[{"version":"2.0","score":7.2,"vector":"AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C","level":"high","assessor":"primary"}],"cwes":["CWE-59"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:01:30.411919Z"}],"osv":[{"id":"CVE-2008-5394","description":"/bin/login in shadow 4.0.18.1 in Debian GNU/Linux, and probably other Linux distributions, allows local users in the utmp group to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a temporary file referenced in a line (aka ut_line) field in a utmp entry.","status":"published","published":"2008-12-09T00:30:00Z","modified":"2026-04-10T03:40:25.282191Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:43:57.452479Z"},{"id":"DEBIAN-CVE-2008-5394","description":"/bin/login in shadow 4.0.18.1 in Debian GNU/Linux, and probably other Linux distributions, allows local users in the utmp group to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a temporary file referenced in a line (aka ut_line) field in a utmp entry.","status":"published","published":"2008-12-09T00:30:00.517Z","modified":"2026-10-23T17:47:35.118954568Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:45:23.742363Z"},{"id":"DSA-1709-1","title":"shadow - privilege escalation","status":"published","published":"2009-01-21T00:00:00Z","modified":"2026-03-09T01:18:04.368454Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:46:14.734124Z"}]}}
