CVE-2008-3533

Severity: critical (CVSS 10.0 v2.0)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 19.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: yes
Published: 2008-08-18 · updated 2026-06-16
Weakness: CWE-134

Description

Format string vulnerability in the window_error function in yelp-window.c in yelp in Gnome after 2.19.90 and before 2.24 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via format string specifiers in an invalid URI on the command line, as demonstrated by use of yelp within (1) man or (2) ghelp URI handlers in Firefox, Evolution, and unspecified other programs.

Affected products

Gnome: 2.20, 2.22
GNOME Yelp: before 2.24 — fixed in 2.24

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: GNOME Yelp 2.24. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

http://bugzilla.gnome.org/attachment.cgi?id=115890
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=546364
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2008-11/msg00000.html
http://secunia.com/advisories/31465
http://secunia.com/advisories/31620
http://secunia.com/advisories/31834
http://secunia.com/advisories/32629
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2008:175
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/30690
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-638-1
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2008/2393
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/yelp/+bug/254860

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