qemu-dm.debug in Xen 3.2.1 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the /tmp/args temporary file.

published 2008-11-07 18 y ago modified 2026-06-16 4 mo ago also EUVD-2008-4972

cvss: 6.9; version 2.0, NVD
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 0.3%; EPSS 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 25%
public exploits: 0; none known

Patch / fix

distros 1

xen RHEL 5 VIRTUALIZATION, RHEL 5 3.0.3-64.el5_2.9
xen-libs RHEL 5 3.0.3-64.el5_2.9

red hat advisories RHSA-2009:0003

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2008-4993 updated 2025-11-21

xen: insecure temporary file use in qemu-dm.debug

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (v. 5 server) xen 3.0.3-64.el5_2.9, xen-libs 3.0.3-64.el5_2.9 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 5 client) xen 3.0.3-64.el5_2.9, xen-libs 3.0.3-64.el5_2.9 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Multi OS (v. 5 client) xen 3.0.3-64.el5_2.9, xen-libs 3.0.3-64.el5_2.9 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Virtualization (v. 5 server) xen 3.0.3-64.el5_2.9, xen-libs 3.0.3-64.el5_2.9
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2009:0003

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

0.32% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 25% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
NVD	2.0	6.9	AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Classification

Weakness

CWE-59 Improper Link Resolution Before File Access

References

mandriva.com /security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2009:016
vendor-advisory
redhat.com /support/errata/RHSA-2009-0003.html
vendor-advisory
exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com /vulnerabilities/46545
vdb-entry
openwall.com /lists/oss-security/2008/10/30/2
mailing-list
bugs.debian.org /496367
bugs.gentoo.org /show_bug.cgi?id=235770
bugs.gentoo.org /show_bug.cgi?id=235805
oval.cisecurity.org /repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A9576
vdb-entry, signature
dev.gentoo.org /~rbu/security/debiantemp/xen-utils-3.2-1

Sources

CVE List CVE-2008-4993
NVD CVE-2008-4993

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

Summary