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CVE-2009-5080· NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

The (1) contrib/eqn2graph/eqn2graph.sh, (2) contrib/grap2graph/grap2graph.sh, and (3) contrib/pic2graph/pic2graph.sh scripts in GNU troff (a

The (1) contrib/eqn2graph/eqn2graph.sh, (2) contrib/grap2graph/grap2graph.sh, and (3) contrib/pic2graph/pic2graph.sh scripts in GNU troff (aka groff) 1.21 and earlier do not properly handle certain failed attempts to create temporary directories, which might allow local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a file in a temporary directory, a different vulnerability than CVE-2004-1296.

LowCVSS 3.3 · v2.0—No exploit Fix available
Published
Jun 30, 2011
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
0.4% · 27th percentile
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Action score

13

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
13 / 40 · 3.3 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.4%

Affected systems

VendorProduct
gnugroff

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • gnu groffup to 1.21 inclusive
  • gnu groff1.10
  • gnu groff1.11
  • gnu groff1.11a
  • gnu groff1.14
  • gnu groff1.15
  • gnu groff1.16
  • gnu groff1.16.1
  • gnu groff1.17.1
  • gnu groff1.17.2
  • gnu groff1.18.1
  • gnu groff1.19
  • gnu groff1.19.1
  • gnu groff1.19.2
  • gnu groff1.20
  • gnu groff1.20.1

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12groffbefore 1.20.1-51.20.1-5
openSUSE:Tumbleweedgroffbefore 1.22.3-2.51.22.3-2.5

Same product

gnu: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2000-0803GNU Groff uses the current working directory to find a device description file, which allows a local user to gain additional privileges by i
    41Plan
  • CVE-2002-0003Buffer overflow in the preprocessor in groff 1.16 and earlier allows remote attackers to gain privileges via lpd in the LPRng printing syste
    31Monitor
  • CVE-2009-5078contrib/pdfmark/pdfroff.sh in GNU troff (aka groff) before 1.21 launches the Ghostscript program without the -dSAFER option, which allows re
    27Monitor
  • CVE-2009-5082The (1) configure and (2) config.guess scripts in GNU troff (aka groff) 1.20.1 on Openwall GNU/*/Linux (aka Owl) improperly create temporary
    13Monitor
  • CVE-2009-5081The (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 e
    13Monitor
  • CVE-2009-5079The (1) gendef.sh, (2) doc/fixinfo.sh, and (3) contrib/gdiffmk/tests/runtests.in scripts in GNU troff (aka groff) 1.21 and earlier allow loc
    13Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
debian:groff1.20.1-5 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:groff1.22.3-2.5 · openSUSE:TumbleweedPackage registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

    If successful

    Confidentiality
    none
    Integrity
    P · data or configuration can be modified
    Availability
    P · the service can be disrupted
    Attack complexity
    M
    Confidentiality impact
    None
    Integrity impact
    P
    Availability impact
    P

    Weakness class (CWE)

    CWE-59 · Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')

    CVSS vector

    AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P

    nvd-primary

    Attack context

    MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

    Noroxi analysis

    No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

    We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.

    We use this product, ask for help

    Change log

    1. Fix✗ → ✓

    For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

    References

    Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

    All records