# CVE-2008-4098: Path traversal in n/a

> Local attackers can bypass privilege checks via symlink manipulation in MyISAM table creation, potentially accessing unauthorized data or escalating privileges.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.6 (`AV:N/AC:H/Au:S/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:** 17 Sep 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DSA-1662-1, GHSA-cwr2-c5mc-rxv6

## What is CVE-2008-4098?

CVE-2008-4098 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 17 Sep 2008. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

MySQL before 5.0.67 allows local users to bypass certain privilege checks by calling CREATE TABLE on a MyISAM table with modified (1) DATA DIRECTORY or (2) INDEX DIRECTORY arguments that are originally associated with pathnames without symlinks, and that can point to tables created at a future time at which a pathname is modified to contain a symlink to a subdirectory of the MySQL home data directory. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2008-4097.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-4098?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Mysql Mysql, Oracle Mysql.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-4098?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2008-4098 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-4098 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux

- [CVE-2020-11651](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11651/): SaltStack Salt Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-7247](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7247/): OpenSMTPD Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-16928](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16928/): Exim Out-of-bounds Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-6789](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6789/): Exim Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2015-2590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2590/): Oracle Java SE and Java SE Embedded Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-4098 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-4098 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 17 Sep 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-2008-4098 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Canonical Ubuntu 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-2008-4098/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-4098/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-4098
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-4098
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-4098

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-4098/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.