CVE-2008-5302

Exp

Race condition in the rmtree function in File::Path 1.08 and 2.07 (lib/File/Path.pm) in Perl 5.8.8 and 5.10.0 allows local users to create arbitrary setuid binaries via a symlink attack, a different vulnerability than CVE-2005-0448, CVE-2004-0452, and CVE-2008-2827. NOTE: this is a regression error related to CVE-2005-0448. It is different from CVE-2008-5303 due to affected versions.

Published: 2008-12-01 Last update: 2026-04-23 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2008-5302 is rated Exploit Available (51.5/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.33%). Core evidence: 3 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

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

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2008-5302

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2008-5302

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 0.05% 0.33% +0.29%
2 2025-12-28 0.05% 0.05% -0.01%
3 2025-12-27 0.05%

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2008-5302

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.9 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
3.4 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2008-5302

OS Trackers for CVE-2008-5302

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2008-5302 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (perl), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2008-5302
gentoo high CVE-2008-5302: 1 GLSA(s) (201311-17), 1 atom(s) (dev-lang/perl); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2008-5302
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2008-5302
ubuntu medium CVE-2008-5302 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (perl), 5 status rows across 5 suites (dapper, gutsy, hardy, intrepid, upstream): released 3, needs-triage 1, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2008-5302

Vendor comments (NVD) for CVE-2008-5302

  • Red Hat (2010-06-07T00:00:00)

    This issue has been addressed in perl packages as shipped in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 and 4 via https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2010-0457.html and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 via https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2010-0458.html.

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2008-5302

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
perl file::path 1.08 cpe:2.3:a:perl:file\:\:path:1.08:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl file::path 2.07 cpe:2.3:a:perl:file\:\:path:2.07:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2008-5302

URL Tags
http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=286905 Exploit
http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=286922#36 Exploit
http://kb.juniper.net/InfoCenter/index?page=content&id=JSA10705
http://kb.juniper.net/InfoCenter/index?page=content&id=JSA10735
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2010//Mar/msg00001.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-02/msg00002.html
http://secunia.com/advisories/32980
http://secunia.com/advisories/33314
http://secunia.com/advisories/40052
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4077
http://wiki.rpath.com/Advisories:rPSA-2009-0011
http://www.debian.org/security/2008/dsa-1678
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/perl/porters/233695#233695 Exploit
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2010:116
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2008/11/28/2
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2010-0458.html
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/500210/100/0/threaded
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-700-1
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-700-2
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/47043
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A11076
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A6890
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