# CVE-2008-2940: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can exploit HPLIP alert-mailing flaws to gain root privileges and send emails, requiring a software upgrade.

- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 14 Aug 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2008-2940, GHSA-5gwr-h45h-hxgj

## What is CVE-2008-2940?

CVE-2008-2940 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 14 Aug 2008. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The alert-mailing implementation in HP Linux Imaging and Printing (HPLIP) 1.6.7 allows local users to gain privileges and send e-mail messages from the root account via vectors related to the setalerts message, and lack of validation of the device URI associated with an event message.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-2940?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Hp Linux Imaging and Printing Project.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-2940?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2008-2940 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-2940 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2007-5208](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-5208/): Command injection in n/a (high 7.6)
- [CVE-2010-4267](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-4267/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2013-4325](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-4325/): Race condition in n/a (medium 6.9)
- [CVE-2013-6427](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6427/): Code injection in n/a (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2011-2697](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-2697/): Command injection in n/a (medium 6.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-2940 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-2940 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 14 Aug 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-2008-2940 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2008-2940/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-2940/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-2940
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-2940
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-2940

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-2940/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.