# CVE-2014-5254: Race condition in xcfa

> Local attackers can exploit insecure temporary file creation to overwrite arbitrary files via symlink attacks.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **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:** 21 Nov 2019
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2014-5254, GHSA-h7rq-6wgr-h57c

## What is CVE-2014-5254?

CVE-2014-5254 is a medium-severity vulnerability in xcfa, published on 21 Nov 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

xcfa before 5.0.1 creates temporary files insecurely which could allow local users to launch a symlink attack and overwrite arbitrary files.

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2014-5254?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Xcfa Project Xcfa.

## How do I fix CVE-2014-5254?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2014-5254 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2014-5254 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2014-5254 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2014-5254 is a medium-severity vulnerability in xcfa, published on 21 Nov 2019. 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-2014-5254 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: xcfa. 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-2014-5254/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-5254/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-5254
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-5254
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2014-5254

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-5254/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.