CVE-2009-5081

groff < 1.21 - Arbitrary File Overwrite via Symlink Attack on Temporary File

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Description

The (1) config.guess, (2) contrib/groffer/perl/groffer.pl, and (3) contrib/groffer/perl/roff2.pl scripts in GNU troff (aka groff) 1.21 and earlier use an insufficient number of X characters in the template argument to the tempfile function, which makes it easier for local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a temporary file, a different vulnerability than CVE-2004-0969.

Scores

EPSS 0.0011
EPSS Percentile 29.6%

Details

CWE
CWE-59
Status published
Products (16)
gnu/groff 1.10
gnu/groff 1.11
gnu/groff 1.11a
gnu/groff 1.14
gnu/groff 1.15
gnu/groff 1.16
gnu/groff 1.16.1
gnu/groff 1.17.1
gnu/groff 1.17.2
gnu/groff 1.18.1
... and 6 more
Published Jun 30, 2011
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026