CVE-2008-4639

jhead.c in Matthias Wandel jhead 2.84 and earlier allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a temporary file.

Published: 2008-10-21 Last update: 2026-04-23 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2008-4639 is rated Low Risk (27/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.32%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2008-4639

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.04% 0.32% +0.28%
2 2023-03-07 0.95% 0.04% -0.91%
3 2022-02-04 0.95%

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2008-4639

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.6 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
3.9 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2008-4639

OS Trackers for CVE-2008-4639

vendor priority summary link
debian low CVE-2008-4639 low priority: Debian including 1 source packages (jhead), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2008-4639
gentoo normal CVE-2008-4639: 1 GLSA(s) (200901-02), 1 atom(s) (media-gfx/jhead); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2008-4639
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2008-4639
ubuntu low CVE-2008-4639 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (jhead), 11 status rows across 11 suites (dapper, gutsy, hardy, intrepid, jaunty, karmic, lucid, maverick, natty, oneiric, upstream): not-affected 7, ignored 3, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2008-4639

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2008-4639

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
sentex jhead <= 2.84 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 1.2 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 1.3 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 1.4 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:1.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 1.5 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:1.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 1.6 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:1.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 1.7 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:1.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 1.8 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:1.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 1.9 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:1.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 2.0 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 2.1 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 2.2 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:2.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 2.3 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:2.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 2.4 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:2.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 2.4-1 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:2.4-1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 2.4-2 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:2.4-2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 2.5 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:2.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 2.6 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:2.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 2.7 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:2.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 2.8 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:2.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sentex jhead 2.82 cpe:2.3:a:sentex:jhead:2.82:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2008-4639

cvelogic Threat Intelligence