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Fencer Vulns
high 7.2

CVE-2008-5394 json

/bin/login in shadow 4.0.18.1 in Debian GNU/Linux, and probably other Linux distributions, allows local users in the utmp group to overwrit…

published 2008-12-09 17 y ago modified 2026-06-16 4 mo ago also EUVD-2008-5371

cvss
7.2
version 2.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.9%
EPSS 0.9% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 61%
public exploits
1
Exploit-DB

Summary

/bin/login in shadow 4.0.18.1 in Debian GNU/Linux, and probably other Linux distributions, allows local users in the utmp group to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a temporary file referenced in a line (aka ut_line) field in a utmp entry.

Patch / fix

  • shadow Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 1:4.1.1-6

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2008-5394

Timeline

  1. First public exploit (EDB-7313)
  2. Published

Exploit prediction

0.95% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 61% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • EDB-7313 Debian - Symlink In Login Arbitrary File Ownership local, 2008-12-01

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 2.0 7.2 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-59 Improper Link Resolution Before File Access

References

Sources

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.