CVE-2008-2936

Postfix < 2.3.15, 2.4 < 2.4.8, 2.5 < 2.5.4, 2.6 < 2.6-20080814 - Arbitrary File Write via Hard Link to Symlink

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 1 public exploit for CVE-2008-2936. PoCs published by RoMaNSoFt.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This exploit leverages a race condition in Postfix (CVE-2008-2936) to create a hardlink to a symlink, allowing an attacker to append arbitrary data to root-owned files (e.g., /etc/passwd) for local privilege escalation.

Description

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.

Exploits (1)

exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by RoMaNSoFt · bashlocallinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/6337

This exploit leverages a race condition in Postfix (CVE-2008-2936) to create a hardlink to a symlink, allowing an attacker to append arbitrary data to root-owned files (e.g., /etc/passwd) for local privilege escalation.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Racy
Target: Postfix (versions affected by CVE-2008-2936)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Postfix installed · Writable /var/mail directory · Hardlink to symlink not dereferenced by the system
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →

References (33)

Core 33
Core References
Third Party Advisory third-party-advisory x_refsource_secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/32231
Third Party Advisory third-party-advisory x_refsource_secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/31469
Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_debian
http://www.debian.org/security/2008/dsa-1629
Third Party Advisory third-party-advisory x_refsource_secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/31530
Issue Tracking x_refsource_confirm
https://issues.rpath.com/browse/RPL-2689
Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry vdb-entry x_refsource_sectrack
http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1020700
Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry mailing-list x_refsource_bugtraq
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/495632/100/0/threaded
US Government Resource third-party-advisory x_refsource_cert-vn
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/938323
Various Sources mailing-list x_refsource_mlist
http://article.gmane.org/gmane.mail.postfix.announce/110
Third Party Advisory third-party-advisory x_refsource_sreason
http://securityreason.com/securityalert/4160
Patch vdb-entry x_refsource_bid
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/30691
Third Party Advisory x_refsource_confirm
http://wiki.rpath.com/Advisories:rPSA-2008-0259
Third Party Advisory third-party-advisory x_refsource_secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/31474
Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry mailing-list x_refsource_bugtraq
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/495882/100/0/threaded
Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry vdb-entry x_refsource_xf
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/44460
Exploit, Third Party Advisory exploit x_refsource_exploit-db
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/6337
Vendor Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_redhat
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2008-0839.html
Vendor Advisory third-party-advisory x_refsource_secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/31500
Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry vdb-entry signature x_refsource_oval
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A10033
Third Party Advisory third-party-advisory x_refsource_secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/31477
Vendor Advisory third-party-advisory x_refsource_secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/31485
Vendor Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_ubuntu
https://usn.ubuntu.com/636-1/
Vendor Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_mandriva
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2008:171
Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry mailing-list x_refsource_bugtraq
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/495474/100/0/threaded
Third Party Advisory vdb-entry x_refsource_vupen
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2008/2385
Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_gentoo
http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200808-12.xml

Scores

EPSS 0.0100
EPSS Percentile 58.3%

Details

CWE
CWE-264
Status published
Products (28)
postfix/postfix 2.3.0
postfix/postfix 2.3.1
postfix/postfix 2.3.2
postfix/postfix 2.3.3
postfix/postfix 2.3.4
postfix/postfix 2.3.5
postfix/postfix 2.3.6
postfix/postfix 2.3.7
postfix/postfix 2.3.8
postfix/postfix 2.3.9
... and 18 more
Published Aug 18, 2008
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026