The postinst script in the tomcat6 package before 6.0.45+dfsg-1~deb7u4 on Debian wheezy, before 6.0.35-1ubuntu3.9 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS; the tomcat7 package before 7.0.28-4+deb7u8 on Debian wheezy, before 7.0.56-3+deb8u6 on Debian jessie, before 7.0.52-1ubuntu0.8 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, and on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, 16.04 LTS, and 16.10; and the tomcat8 package before 8.0.14-1+deb8u5 on Debian jessie, before 8.0.32-1ubuntu1.3 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, before 8.0.37-1ubuntu0.1 on Ubuntu 16.10, and before 8.0.38-2ubuntu1 on Ubuntu 17.04 might allow local users with access to the tomcat account to obtain sensitive information or gain root privileges via a symlink attack on the Catalina localhost directory.

linki.py in ekg 2005-06-05 and earlier allows local users to overwrite or create arbitrary files via a symlink attack on temporary files.

Race condition in cpio 2.6 and earlier allows local users to modify permissions of arbitrary files via a hard link attack on a file while it is being decompressed, whose permissions are changed by cpio after the decompression is complete.

The mysqlaccess script in MySQL 4.0.23 and earlier, 4.1.x before 4.1.10, 5.0.x before 5.0.3, and other versions including 3.x, allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files or read temporary files via a symlink attack on temporary files.

KDE before 3.3.0 does not properly handle when certain symbolic links point to "stale" locations, which could allow local users to create or truncate arbitrary files.

htpasswd and htdigest in Apache 2.0a9, 1.3.14, and others allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack.

It was found that the fix for CVE-2018-10927, CVE-2018-10928, CVE-2018-10929, CVE-2018-10930, and CVE-2018-10926 was incomplete. A remote, authenticated attacker could use one of these flaws to execute arbitrary code, create arbitrary files, or cause denial of service on glusterfs server nodes via symlinks to relative paths.

Perl module Data::UUID from CPAN version 1.219 vulnerable to symlink attacks

A flaw was found in Mercurial before 4.9. It was possible to use symlinks and subrepositories to defeat Mercurial's path-checking logic and write files outside a repository.

foomatic-rip filter, all versions, used insecurely creates temporary files for storage of PostScript data by rendering the data when the debug mode was enabled. This flaw may be exploited by a local attacker to conduct symlink attacks by overwriting arbitrary files accessible with the privileges of the user running the foomatic-rip universal print filter.

The pg_ctlcluster script in postgresql-common package in Debian wheezy before 134wheezy5, in Debian jessie before 165+deb8u2, in Debian unstable before 178, in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS before 129ubuntu1.2, in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS before 154ubuntu1.1, in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS before 173ubuntu0.1, in Ubuntu 17.04 before 179ubuntu0.1, and in Ubuntu 17.10 before 184ubuntu1.1 allows local users to gain root privileges via a symlink attack on a logfile in /var/log/postgresql.

dpkg-source in dpkg before 1.14.31 and 1.15.x allows user-assisted remote attackers to modify arbitrary files via a symlink attack on unspecified files in the .pc directory.

pithos before 0.3.5 allows overwrite of arbitrary files via symlinks.

systemd-tmpfiles in systemd before 237 attempts to support ownership/permission changes on hardlinked files even if the fs.protected_hardlinks sysctl is turned off, which allows local users to bypass intended access restrictions via vectors involving a hard link to a file for which the user lacks write access, as demonstrated by changing the ownership of the /etc/passwd file.

ikiwiki before 3.20110608 allows remote attackers to hijack root's tty and run symlink attacks.

An improper link resolution flaw can occur while extracting an archive leading to changing modes, times, access control lists, and flags of a file outside of the archive. An attacker may provide a malicious archive to a victim user, who would trigger this flaw when trying to extract the archive. A local attacker may use this flaw to gain more privileges in a system.

In Archive_Tar before 1.4.14, symlinks can refer to targets outside of the extracted archive, a different vulnerability than CVE-2020-36193.

Git is an open source, scalable, distributed revision control system. Versions prior to 2.30.6, 2.31.5, 2.32.4, 2.33.5, 2.34.5, 2.35.5, 2.36.3, and 2.37.4 are subject to exposure of sensitive information to a malicious actor. When performing a local clone (where the source and target of the clone are on the same volume), Git copies the contents of the source's `$GIT_DIR/objects` directory into the destination by either creating hardlinks to the source contents, or copying them (if hardlinks are disabled via `--no-hardlinks`). A malicious actor could convince a victim to clone a repository with a symbolic link pointing at sensitive information on the victim's machine. This can be done either by having the victim clone a malicious repository on the same machine, or having them clone a malicious repository embedded as a bare repository via a submodule from any source, provided they clone with the `--recurse-submodules` option. Git does not create symbolic links in the `$GIT_DIR/objects` directory. The problem has been patched in the versions published on 2022-10-18, and backported to v2.30.x. Potential workarounds: Avoid cloning untrusted repositories using the `--local` optimization when on a shared machine, either by passing the `--no-local` option to `git clone` or cloning from a URL that uses the `file://` scheme. Alternatively, avoid cloning repositories from untrusted sources with `--recurse-submodules` or run `git config --global protocol.file.allow user`.

Mumble before 1.3.4 allows remote code execution if a victim navigates to a crafted URL on a server list and clicks on the Open Webpage text.

An issue was discovered in GNOME GLib before 2.66.8. When g_file_replace() is used with G_FILE_CREATE_REPLACE_DESTINATION to replace a path that is a dangling symlink, it incorrectly also creates the target of the symlink as an empty file, which could conceivably have security relevance if the symlink is attacker-controlled. (If the path is a symlink to a file that already exists, then the contents of that file correctly remain unchanged.)

avahi-daemon-check-dns.sh in the Debian avahi package through 0.8-4 is executed as root via /etc/network/if-up.d/avahi-daemon, and allows a local attacker to cause a denial of service or create arbitrary empty files via a symlink attack on files under /run/avahi-daemon. NOTE: this only affects the packaging for Debian GNU/Linux (used indirectly by SUSE), not the upstream Avahi product.

The sudoedit personality of Sudo before 1.9.5 may allow a local unprivileged user to perform arbitrary directory-existence tests by winning a sudo_edit.c race condition in replacing a user-controlled directory by a symlink to an arbitrary path.

An improper link resolution flaw while extracting an archive can lead to changing the access control list (ACL) of the target of the link. An attacker may provide a malicious archive to a victim user, who would trigger this flaw when trying to extract the archive. A local attacker may use this flaw to change the ACL of a file on the system and gain more privileges.

foomatic-rip filter v4.0.12 and prior used insecurely creates temporary files for storage of PostScript data by rendering the data when the debug mode was enabled. This flaw may be exploited by a local attacker to conduct symlink attacks by overwriting arbitrary files accessible with the privileges of the user running the foomatic-rip universal print filter.

The changelog command in Apt before 1.0.9.2 allows local users to write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the changelog file.

Cool Projects TarDiff allows local users to write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a pathname in a /tmp/tardiff-$$ temporary directory.

multipath-tools 0.7.7 through 0.9.x before 0.9.2 allows local users to obtain root access, as exploited in conjunction with CVE-2022-41974. Local users able to access /dev/shm can change symlinks in multipathd due to incorrect symlink handling, which could lead to controlled file writes outside of the /dev/shm directory. This could be used indirectly for local privilege escalation to root.

storeBackup.pl in storeBackup through 3.5 relies on the /tmp/storeBackup.lock pathname, which allows symlink attacks that possibly lead to privilege escalation. (Local users can also create a plain file named /tmp/storeBackup.lock to block use of storeBackup until an admin manually deletes that file.)

elf/dl-load.c in ld.so in the GNU C Library (aka glibc or libc6) through 2.11.2, and 2.12.x through 2.12.1, does not properly handle a value of $ORIGIN for the LD_AUDIT environment variable, which allows local users to gain privileges via a crafted dynamic shared object (DSO) located in an arbitrary directory.

Insufficient policy enforcement in Cryptohome in Google Chrome prior to 88.0.4324.96 allowed a local attacker to perform OS-level privilege escalation via a crafted file.

pam_motd (aka the MOTD module) in libpam-modules before 1.1.0-2ubuntu1.1 in PAM on Ubuntu 9.10 and libpam-modules before 1.1.1-2ubuntu5 in PAM on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS allows local users to change the ownership of arbitrary files via a symlink attack on .cache in a user's home directory, related to "user file stamps" and the motd.legal-notice file.

Chip Salzenberg Deliver allows local users to cause a denial of service, obtain sensitive information, and possibly change the ownership of arbitrary files via a symlink attack on an unspecified file.

libodm.a in IBM AIX 6.1 and 7.1, and VIOS 2.2.x, allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a temporary file. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2012-2179.

The configtest function in the Red Hat dhcpd init script for DHCP 3.0.1 in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 3 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on an unspecified temporary file, related to the "dhcpd -t" command.

JBMC Software DirectAdmin before 1.334 allows local users to create or overwrite any file via a symlink attack on an arbitrary file in a certain temporary directory, related to a request for this temporary file in the PATH_INFO to the CMD_DB script during a backup action.

Sun xVM VirtualBox 2.0.0, 2.0.2, 2.0.4, 2.0.6r39760, 2.1.0, 2.1.2, and 2.1.4r42893 on Linux allows local users to gain privileges via a hardlink attack, which preserves setuid/setgid bits on Linux, related to DT_RPATH:$ORIGIN.

The pa_make_secure_dir function in core-util.c in PulseAudio 0.9.10 and 0.9.19 allows local users to change the ownership and permissions of arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a /tmp/.esd-##### temporary file.

winetricks before 20081223 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the x_showmenu.txt temporary file.

CUPS on Mandriva Linux 2008.0, 2008.1, 2009.0, Corporate Server (CS) 3.0 and 4.0, and Multi Network Firewall (MNF) 2.0 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the /tmp/pdf.log temporary file.

The SSL certificate setup program (genSslCert.sh) in Standards Based Linux Instrumentation for Manageability (SBLIM) sblim-sfcb 1.3.2 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the (1) /var/tmp/key.pem, (2) /var/tmp/cert.pem, and (3) /var/tmp/ssl.cnf temporary files.

sng_regress in SNG 1.0.2 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the (1) /tmp/recompiled$$.png, (2) /tmp/decompiled$$.sng, and (3) /tmp/canonicalized$$.sng temporary files.

Trendnet AC2600 TEW-827DRU version 2.08B01 contains a symlink vulnerability in the bittorrent functionality. If enabled, the bittorrent functionality is vulnerable to a symlink attack that could lead to remote code execution on the device. If an end user inserts a flash drive with a malicious symlink on it that the bittorrent client can write downloads to, then a user is able to download arbitrary files to any desired location on the devices filesystem, which could lead to remote code execution. Example directories vulnerable to this include "config", "downloads", and "torrents", though it should be noted that "downloads" is the only vector that allows for arbitrary files to be downloaded to arbitrary locations.

Red Hat Cluster Project 2.x allows local users to modify or overwrite arbitrary files via symlink attacks on files in /tmp, involving unspecified components in Resource Group Manager (aka rgmanager) before 2.03.09-1, gfs2-utils before 2.03.09-1, and CMAN - The Cluster Manager before 2.03.09-1 on Fedora 9.

Trend Micro Security 2020 (Consumer) contains a vulnerability in the installer package that could be exploited by placing a malicious DLL in a non-protected location with high privileges (symlink attack) which can lead to obtaining administrative privileges during the installation of the product.

ip-up in ppp-udeb 2.4.4rel on Debian GNU/Linux allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the /tmp/resolv.conf.tmp temporary file.

test_parser.py in mayavi 1.5 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the /tmp/err.log temporary file.

The (1) ncsarmt and (2) ncsawrap scripts in xmcd 2.6 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a /tmp/Mosaic.*pid temporary file.

screenie in screenie 1.30.0 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a /tmp/.screenie.##### temporary file.

passwdehd in libpam-mount 0.43 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a /tmp/passwdehd.##### temporary file.