CVE-2008-4996

MEDIUMNVD 5.55.5—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 5.5 from GitHub Security Advisory published 2022-05-17. NVD baseline CVSS 5.5; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
5.5
EchelonGraph verdictMonitorLow exploitation likelihood right now — keep watching.
  • Lower severity and no public exploit yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 0%CVSS: 5.5Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

init in initramfs-tools 0.92f allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the /tmp/initramfs.debug temporary file. NOTE: the vendor disputes this vulnerability, stating that "init is [used in] a single-user context; there's no possibility that this is exploitable.

CVSS v3
5.5
EG Score
5.5(medium)
EPSS
34.9%
KEV
Not listed

Published

November 7, 2008

Last Modified

April 23, 2026

Advisory Details (3)

Auto-updated May 30, 2026
No patch confirmed yet.
generic

235770 – (debian-tempfile) [Tracker] Tempfile issues found in Debian

https://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=235770
generic

oss-security - CVE requests: tempfile issues for aview, mgetty, openoffice, crossfire

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2008/10/30/2
generic

#496386 - The possibility of attack with the help of symlinks in some Debian packages - Debian Bug report logs

http://bugs.debian.org/496386

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 10× in last 7d / 46× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-07-07 22:57 UTCOSV refresh
  2. 2026-07-06 16:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-06 02:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-07-06 02:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-07-05 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-07-05 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-07-04 06:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-07-02 14:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-29 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-29 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-28 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-28 04:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-27 03:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-25 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-25 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-23 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-23 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-22 14:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-22 14:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-21 14:53 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 59 more
  1. 2026-06-21 14:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-06-21 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-06-21 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-06-19 19:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-06-19 19:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-06-19 10:55 UTCOSV refresh
  7. 2026-06-18 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-18 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-16 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-16 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-15 17:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-14 23:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-11 13:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-10 22:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-10 13:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-08 14:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-06-05 06:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-06-04 13:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-06-04 13:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  35. 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  37. 2026-05-31 00:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-05-31 00:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-05-30 19:35 UTCEG score recompute
  40. 2026-05-30 19:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  41. 2026-05-29 13:40 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  44. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  45. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  46. 2026-05-27 13:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-05-27 10:14 UTCOSV refresh
  48. 2026-05-26 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  49. 2026-05-26 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  50. 2026-05-26 07:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  51. 2026-05-26 07:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  52. 2026-05-24 16:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  53. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  54. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  55. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  56. 2026-05-20 22:36 UTCEPSS rescore
  57. 2026-05-20 11:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  58. 2026-05-20 11:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  59. 2026-05-18 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore

Related CVEs(same CWE)

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2008-4996?
CVE-2008-4996 is a medium vulnerability published on November 7, 2008. init in initramfs-tools 0.92f allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the /tmp/initramfs.debug temporary file. NOTE: the vendor disputes this vulnerability, stating that "init is [used in] a single-user context; there's no possibility that this is exploitable.
When was CVE-2008-4996 disclosed?
CVE-2008-4996 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on November 7, 2008, with the most recent update on April 23, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2008-4996 actively exploited?
CVE-2008-4996 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 34.9% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2008-4996?
CVE-2008-4996 has a CVSS v3 base score of 5.5 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2008-4996?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2008-4996, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

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