# CVE-2008-1078: Path traversal in n/a

> Local attackers can overwrite arbitrary files via symlink attacks on temporary files in am-utils, potentially leading to privilege escalation.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 29 Feb 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-p2pv-rfm6-cxq7

## What is CVE-2008-1078?

CVE-2008-1078 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Gentoo Linux, published on 29 Feb 2008. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

expn in the am-utils and net-fs packages for Gentoo, rPath Linux, and other distributions, allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the expn[PID] temporary file.  NOTE: this is the same issue as CVE-2003-0308.1.

Weakness: CWE-59 (Improper Link Resolution Before File Access)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-1078?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Gentoo Linux, Rpath Rpath Linux.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-1078?

No fix has been published for CVE-2008-1078 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2008-1078 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-1078 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Gentoo Linux

- [CVE-2004-0914](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0914/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-1037](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-1037/): Command injection in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-1034](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-1034/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-0891](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0891/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2002-1337](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2002-1337/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-1078 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-1078 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Gentoo Linux, published on 29 Feb 2008. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-1078 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Gentoo Linux. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1078/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1078/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-1078
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-1078
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-1078

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1078/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.