CVE-2008-5983 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2008-5983
Vulnerability Scoring

6.9
/10
High Risk

Without proper mitigation, CVE-2008-5983 could pose a significant security threat.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: Medium
    Attack Complexity Analysis In Progress
  • Attack Vector: Local
    Local access is required to exploit this vulnerability.
  • Privileges Required: None
    No authentication is required for exploitation.
  • Scope:
    Impact is confined to the initially vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: None
    No user interaction is necessary for exploitation.

CVE-2008-5983 Details

Status: Deferred

Last updated: 🕧 09 Apr 2025, 00:30 UTC
Originally published on: 🕝 28 Jan 2009, 02:30 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 5914 days

CVSS Release: version 2

CVE-2008-5983 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2008-5983: Untrusted search path vulnerability in the PySys_SetArgv API function in Python 2.6 and earlier, and possibly later versions, prepends an empty string to sys.path when the argv[0] argument does not contain a path separator, which might allow local users to execute arbitrary code via a Trojan horse Python file in the current working directory.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2008-5983

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2008-5983 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2008-5983

Moderate complexity but no authentication required makes CVE-2008-5983 a potential risk.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2008-5983, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2008-5983, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: None
    CVE-2008-5983 does not compromise confidentiality.
  • Integrity: None
    CVE-2008-5983 does not impact data integrity.
  • Availability: None
    CVE-2008-5983 does not affect system availability.

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.

EPSS Score: 0.057% (probability of exploit)

EPSS Percentile: 27.28% (lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 72.72% of others.

CVE-2008-5983 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-426

CAPEC Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

  • Leveraging/Manipulating Configuration File Search Paths CAPEC-38 This pattern of attack sees an adversary load a malicious resource into a program's standard path so that when a known command is executed then the system instead executes the malicious component. The adversary can either modify the search path a program uses, like a PATH variable or classpath, or they can manipulate resources on the path to point to their malicious components. J2EE applications and other component based applications that are built from multiple binaries can have very long list of dependencies to execute. If one of these libraries and/or references is controllable by the attacker then application controls can be circumvented by the attacker.

Vulnerable Configurations

  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:0.9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:0.9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:0.9.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:0.9.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:0.9.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:0.9.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:0.9.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:0.9.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.5.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.5.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.5.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.5.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.6.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:1.6.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.2.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.2.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.2.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.2.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.3.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.3.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.3.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.3.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.3.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.3.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.3.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.3.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.3.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.3.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.4.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.4.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.4.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.4.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.4.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.4.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.4.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.4.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.5.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.5.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.5.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.5.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.5.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.5.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.5.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.5.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.5.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.5.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.5.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.5.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.5.150:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.5.150:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.6.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.6.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.6.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.6.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.6.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.6.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.6.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.6.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.6.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:2.6.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:3.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:3.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:3.1.1:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:3.1.1:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:3.1.1:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:3.1.1:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:3.1.2:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:3.1.2:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:3.1.2:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:python:python:3.1.2:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:8.04:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:8.04:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:10.04:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:10.04:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:11.04:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:11.04:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:11.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:11.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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