Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2004-1901

Portage before 2.0.50-r3 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a hard link attack on the lockfiles.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.5, requiring local system access to exploit with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction requiring only low-level privileges . The vulnerability impacts integrity (unauthorized modifications), for affected systems. Impacting 2 products from gentoo, from gentoo organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Originally identified in 2004, this vulnerability predates many modern security frameworks and practices. The vulnerability landscape of that era was characterized by different threat models and less mature defense mechanisms compared to contemporary standards.

Published

2004-12-31T05:00:00.000

Last Modified

2025-04-03T01:03:51.193

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 5.5 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

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

Access Vector: LOCAL
Access Complexity: LOW
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: PARTIAL
Integrity Impact: PARTIAL
Availability Impact: PARTIAL

Exploitability Score

3.9

Impact Score

6.4

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-59
Type: Secondary
CWE-59

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	gentoo	portage	< 2.0.50	Yes
Application	gentoo	portage	2.0.50	Yes
Operating System	gentoo	linux	1.4	Yes
Operating System	gentoo	linux	1.4	Yes
Operating System	gentoo	linux	1.4	Yes

References

http://secunia.com/advisories/11305 Broken Link, Patch ([email protected])
http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200404-01.xml Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/10060 Broken Link, Patch, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/15754 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://secunia.com/advisories/11305 Broken Link, Patch (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200404-01.xml Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/10060 Broken Link, Patch, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/15754 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For gentoo's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.