# CVE-2008-1671: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can cause denial of service or execute arbitrary code in setuid root KDE start_kdeinit via manipulated command-line arguments.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.6 (`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 28 Apr 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-59rx-cg4h-mhrj

## What is CVE-2008-1671?

CVE-2008-1671 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Kde Kde, published on 28 Apr 2008. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

start_kdeinit in KDE 3.5.5 through 3.5.9, when installed setuid root, allows local users to cause a denial of service and possibly execute arbitrary code via "user-influenceable input" (probably command-line arguments) that cause start_kdeinit to send SIGUSR1 signals to other processes.

Weakness: CWE-16

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-1671?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Kde Kde.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-1671?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2008-1671 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-1671 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Kde Kde

- [CVE-2005-0011](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-0011/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2003-0690](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-0690/): Privilege escalation in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2008-1670](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1670/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2012-4512](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-4512/): Memory corruption in Konqueror (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2006-0019](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-0019/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-1671 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-1671 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Kde Kde, published on 28 Apr 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-2008-1671 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Kde Kde. 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-2008-1671/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1671/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-1671
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-1671
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-1671

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1671/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.