CVE-2008-2936
Published Aug 18, 2008 · Updated Oct 23, 2026
Original summary
Normalized public record · Updated Oct 23, 2026
Postfix before 2.3.15, 2.4 before 2.4.8, 2.5 before 2.5.4, and 2.6 before 2.6-20080814, when the operating system supports hard links to symlinks, allows local users to append e-mail messages to a file to which a root-owned symlink points, by creating a hard link to this symlink and then sending a message. NOTE: this can be leveraged to gain privileges if there is a symlink to an init script.
Publisher and source text is retained separately from QFinch interpretation.
QFinch assessment
Postfix before 2.3.15, 2.4 before 2.4.8, 2.5 before 2.5.4, and 2.6 before 2.6-20080814, when the operating system supports hard links to symlinks, allows local users to append e-mail messages to a file to which a root-owned symlink points, by creating a hard link to this symlink and then sending a message. NOTE: this can be leveraged to gain privileges if there is a symlink to an init script.
Evidence: public source recordsAffected products
| Affected package, product or range | Fix status |
|---|---|
| Consult the referenced vendor advisory for affected versions. | Consult source advisory |
Matching a version is only one part of assessing exposure. QFinch has not assessed your environment on this public page.
Remediation
Apply the vendor-supported fixed release or mitigation, then verify the affected component is no longer reachable.
- Confirm the affected product and reachable code path exist in your environment.
- Apply the vendor-supported patch or mitigation from the primary advisory.
- Rescan the exact deployed revision and retain verification evidence.
Evidence coverage
- SSVC priority
- LOW
- Confidence
- 20%
- Aliases
- None reported
Scores appear only when corresponding evidence exists. Missing data is never interpreted as zero risk.
Sources and record history
- FEDORA-2008-8595 ↗
- 32231 ↗
- 31469 ↗
- DSA-1629 ↗
- 31530 ↗
- FEDORA-2008-8593 ↗
- issues.rpath.com ↗
- 1020700 ↗
- 20080821 rPSA-2008-0259-1 postfix ↗
- VU#938323 ↗
- [postfix-announce] 20080814 Postfix local privilege escalation via hardlinked symlinks ↗
- 4160 ↗
Record history
Published Aug 18, 2008 · Last refreshed Oct 23, 2026