# CVE-2008-5076: Other in n/a

> Local attackers can exploit unsanitized process names in htop to hide processes or modify arbitrary files via control characters.

- **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:** 14 Nov 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2008-5076, GHSA-h5hm-x9rx-833w

## What is CVE-2008-5076?

CVE-2008-5076 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 14 Nov 2008. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

htop 0.7 writes process names to a terminal without sanitizing non-printable characters, which might allow local users to hide processes, modify arbitrary files, or have unspecified other impact via a process name with "crazy control strings."

Weakness: CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-5076?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Htop Htop.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-5076?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2008-5076 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-5076 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-5076 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-5076 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 14 Nov 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-2008-5076 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-2008-5076/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-5076/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-5076
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-5076
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-5076

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-5076/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.