It was discovered that read_file() in apport/hookutils.py would follow symbolic links or open FIFOs. When this function is used by the openjdk-lts package apport hooks, it could expose private data to other local users.

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.

It was discovered that read_file() in apport/hookutils.py would follow symbolic links or open FIFOs. When this function is used by the xorg package apport hooks, it could expose private data to other local users.

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

It was discovered that read_file() in apport/hookutils.py would follow symbolic links or open FIFOs. When this function is used by the openjdk-17 package apport hooks, it could expose private data to other local users.

It was discovered that read_file() in apport/hookutils.py would follow symbolic links or open FIFOs. When this function is used by the openjdk-16 package apport hooks, it could expose private data to other local users.

It was discovered that read_file() in apport/hookutils.py would follow symbolic links or open FIFOs. When this function is used by the openjdk-15 package apport hooks, it could expose private data to other local users.

sosreport in SoS 3.x allows local users to obtain sensitive information from sosreport files or gain privileges via a symlink attack on an archive file in a temporary directory, as demonstrated by sosreport-$hostname-$date.tar in /tmp/sosreport-$hostname-$date.

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.

Kevin Backhouse discovered that apport would read a user-supplied configuration file with elevated privileges. By replacing the file with a symbolic link, a user could get apport to read any file on the system as root, with unknown consequences.

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 distcheck rule in dist-check.mk in GNU coreutils 5.2.1 through 8.1 allows local users to gain privileges via a symlink attack on a file in a directory tree under /tmp.

systemd-tmpfiles in systemd through 237 mishandles symlinks present in non-terminal path components, which allows local users to obtain ownership of arbitrary files via vectors involving creation of a directory and a file under that directory, and later replacing that directory with a symlink. This occurs even if the fs.protected_symlinks sysctl is turned on.

w3m through 0.5.3 does not properly handle temporary files when the ~/.w3m directory is unwritable, which allows a local attacker to craft a symlink attack to overwrite arbitrary files.

In snapd versions prior to 2.62, snapd failed to properly check the destination of symbolic links when extracting a snap. The snap format is a squashfs file-system image and so can contain symbolic links and other file types. Various file entries within the snap squashfs image (such as icons and desktop files etc) are directly read by snapd when it is extracted. An attacker who could convince a user to install a malicious snap which contained symbolic links at these paths could then cause snapd to write out the contents of the symbolic link destination into a world-readable directory. This in-turn could allow an unprivileged user to gain access to privileged information.

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.

lxc-start in lxc before 1.0.8 and 1.1.x before 1.1.4 allows local container administrators to escape AppArmor confinement via a symlink attack on a (1) mount target or (2) bind mount source.

kernel_crashdump in Apport before 2.19 allows local users to cause a denial of service (disk consumption) or possibly gain privileges via a (1) symlink or (2) hard link attack on /var/crash/vmcore.log.

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.

It was discovered that read_file() in apport/hookutils.py would follow symbolic links or open FIFOs. When this function is used by the openjdk-8 package apport hooks, it could expose private data to other local users.

Apport creates a world writable lock file with root ownership in the world writable /var/lock/apport directory. If the apport/ directory does not exist (this is not uncommon as /var/lock is a tmpfs), it will create the directory, otherwise it will simply continue execution using the existing directory. This allows for a symlink attack if an attacker were to create a symlink at /var/lock/apport, changing apport's lock file location. This file could then be used to escalate privileges, for example. Fixed in versions 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.23, 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.14, 2.20.11-0ubuntu8.8 and 2.20.11-0ubuntu22.

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.

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.

IBM Informix Dynamic Server Enterprise Edition 12.1 could allow a local user logged in with database administrator user to gain root privileges through a symbolic link vulnerability in oninit mongohash. IBM X-Force ID: 144431.

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.

IBM Informix Dynamic Server Enterprise Edition 12.1 could allow a local user logged in with database administrator user to gain root privileges through a symbolic link vulnerability in onmode. IBM X-Force ID: 144430.

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.

IBM Informix Dynamic Server Enterprise Edition 12.1 could allow a local user logged in with database administrator user to gain root privileges through a symbolic link vulnerability in .infxdirs. IBM X-Force ID: 144432.

An issue was discovered in open-vm-tools 2009.03.18-154848. Local users can gain privileges via a symlink attack on /tmp files if vmware-user-suid-wrapper is setuid root and the ChmodChownDirectory function is enabled.

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.

In Checkmk before 1.6.0p29, 2.x before 2.0.0p25, and 2.1.x before 2.1.0b10, a site user can escalate to root by editing an OMD hook symlink.

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.