CVE-2008-4996: Debian Initramfs-Tools

Medium severity, CVSS 5.5. EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

init in initramfs-tools 0.92f allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the /tmp/initramfs.debug temporary file. NOTE: the vendor disputes this vulnerability, stating that "init is [used in] a single-user context; there's no possibility that this is exploitable.

Affected products

• Debian Initramfs-Tools: version 0.92f only

Published 2008-11-07. Last modified 2026-06-16.