CVE-2009-5079

Severity: low (CVSS 3.3 v2.0)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2011-06-30 · updated 2026-06-16
Weakness: CWE-59

Description

The (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 local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a gro#####.tmp or /tmp/##### temporary file.

Affected products

GNU Groff: through 1.21; 1.10, 1.11, 1.11a, 1.14, 1.15, 1.16 (+9)

References

http://cvsweb.openwall.com/cgi/cvsweb.cgi/Owl/packages/groff/groff-1.20.1-owl-tmp.diff
http://cvsweb.openwall.com/cgi/cvsweb.cgi/Owl/packages/groff/groff-1.20.1-owl-tmp.diff.diff?r1=1.1%3Br2=1.2%3Bf=h
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2009/08/14/4
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2009/08/14/5
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:085
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:086
http://cvsweb.openwall.com/cgi/cvsweb.cgi/Owl/packages/groff/groff-1.20.1-owl-tmp.diff
http://cvsweb.openwall.com/cgi/cvsweb.cgi/Owl/packages/groff/groff-1.20.1-owl-tmp.diff.diff?r1=1.1%3Br2=1.2%3Bf=h
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2009/08/14/4
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2009/08/14/5
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:085
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:086

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