wordnet — security advisory
Multiple buffer overflows in Princeton WordNet (wn) 3.0 allow context-dependent attackers to execute arbitrary code via (1) a long argument on the command line; a long (2) WNSEARCHDIR, (3) WNHOME, or (4) WNDBVERSION environment variable; or (5) a user-supplied dictionary (aka data file). NOTE: since WordNet itself does not run with special privileges, this issue only crosses privilege boundaries when WordNet is invoked as a third party component.
- Products
- wordnet
- Affected versions
- Not specified
- Fixed versions
- 1:3.0-12
- CVEs
- CVE-2008-3908
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 31 Oct 2026, 22:58 UTC · Revision 1
Source evidence
Multiple buffer overflows in Princeton WordNet (wn) 3.0 allow context-dependent attackers to execute arbitrary code via (1) a long argument on the command line; a long (2) WNSEARCHDIR, (3) WNHOME, or (4) WNDBVERSION environment variable; or (5) a user-supplied dictionary (aka data file). NOTE: since WordNet itself does not run with special privileges, this issue only crosses privilege boundaries when WordNet is invoked as a third party component.
osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2008-3908
wordnet
Fixed versions: 1:3.0-12
wordnet
Fixed versions: 1:3.0-12
wordnet
Fixed versions: 1:3.0-12
Complete source record
{
"id": "0be4f8a450aeeeb0cca00eacb08f3d63c5e6b7e12b806315cf47c7785bb17c7b",
"url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/DEBIAN-CVE-2008-3908",
"method": "structured",
"payload": {
"kind": "advisory",
"title": "DEBIAN-CVE-2008-3908",
"summary": "Multiple buffer overflows in Princeton WordNet (wn) 3.0 allow context-dependent attackers to execute arbitrary code via (1) a long argument on the command line; a long (2) WNSEARCHDIR, (3) WNHOME, or (4) WNDBVERSION environment variable; or (5) a user-supplied dictionary (aka data file). NOTE: since WordNet itself does not run with special privileges, this issue only crosses privilege boundaries when WordNet is invoked as a third party component.",
"evidence": "osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2008-3908",
"products": [
{
"name": {
"value": "wordnet",
"evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
{
"value": "1:3.0-12",
"evidence": "/affected/0/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
},
{
"name": {
"value": "wordnet",
"evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
{
"value": "1:3.0-12",
"evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
},
{
"name": {
"value": "wordnet",
"evidence": "/affected/2/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
{
"value": "1:3.0-12",
"evidence": "/affected/2/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
}
],
"severity": "unknown",
"structured": {
"id": "DEBIAN-CVE-2008-3908",
"aliases": [
"DEBIAN-CVE-2008-3908"
],
"affected": [
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "1:3.0-12"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "wordnet",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/wordnet?arch=source&distro=bookworm",
"ecosystem": "Debian:12"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2008-3908.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "medium"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "1:3.0-12"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "wordnet",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/wordnet?arch=source&distro=trixie",
"ecosystem": "Debian:13"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2008-3908.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "medium"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "1:3.0-12"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "wordnet",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/wordnet?arch=source&distro=forky",
"ecosystem": "Debian:14"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2008-3908.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "medium"
}
}
],
"modified": "2026-10-23T17:47:31.058249951Z",
"provider": "osv",
"upstream": [
"CVE-2008-3908"
],
"references": [
"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2008-3908"
]
},
"related_cves": [
{
"value": "CVE-2008-3908",
"evidence": "/upstream"
}
],
"security_relevant": true,
"severity_evidence": null
},
"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 417374,
"published_at": "2008-09-04T17:41:00+00:00"
}