Reliability Analysis Metrics Calculation Engine (RACEng) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Windows Image Acquisition Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Connected User Experiences and Telemetry Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
An issue was discovered in Acronis True Image 2020 24.5.22510. anti_ransomware_service.exe includes functionality to quarantine files by copying a suspected ransomware file from one directory to another using SYSTEM privileges. Because unprivileged users have write permissions in the quarantine folder, it is possible to control this privileged write with a hardlink. This means that an unprivileged user can write/overwrite arbitrary files in arbitrary folders. Escalating privileges to SYSTEM is trivial with arbitrary writes. While the quarantine feature is not enabled by default, it can be forced to copy the file to the quarantine by communicating with anti_ransomware_service.exe through its REST API.
Connected User Experiences and Telemetry Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
An issue existed within the path validation logic for symlinks. This issue was addressed with improved path sanitization. This issue is fixed in iOS 13.6 and iPadOS 13.6, macOS Catalina 10.15.6, tvOS 13.4.8. A local attacker may be able to elevate their privileges.
An issue existed within the path validation logic for symlinks. This issue was addressed with improved path sanitization. This issue is fixed in iOS 13.6 and iPadOS 13.6, macOS Catalina 10.15.6, tvOS 13.4.8, watchOS 6.2.8. A local attacker may be able to elevate their privileges.
Improper link resolution before file access in Intel(R) DSA before version 20.11.50.9 may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable an escalation of privilege via local access.
The Sierra Wireless Windows Mobile Broadband Driver Packages (MBDP) before build 5043 allows an unprivileged user to overwrite arbitrary files in arbitrary folders using hard links. An unprivileged user could leverage this vulnerability to execute arbitrary code with system privileges.
The AUEPLauncher service in Radeon AMD User Experience Program Launcher through 1.0.0.1 on Windows allows elevation of privilege by placing a crafted file in %PROGRAMDATA%\AMD\PPC\upload and then creating a symbolic link in %PROGRAMDATA%\AMD\PPC\temp that points to an arbitrary folder with an arbitrary file name.
Windows System Assessment Tool Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
A UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following vulnerability in the packaging of exim in openSUSE Factory allows local attackers to escalate from user mail to root. This issue affects: openSUSE Factory exim versions prior to 4.93.0.4-3.1.
A vulnerability in the improper handling of junctions in Bitdefender Antivirus Free can allow an unprivileged user to substitute a quarantined file, and restore it to a privileged location. This issue affects: Bitdefender Antivirus Free versions prior to 1.0.17.
Improper Access Control vulnerability in McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows prior to 10.7.0 September 2020 Update allows local users to access files which the user otherwise would not have access to via manipulating symbolic links to redirect McAfee file operations to an unintended file.
Inappropriate implementation in installer in Google Chrome prior to 84.0.4147.125 allowed a local attacker to potentially elevate privilege via a crafted filesystem.
Inappropriate implementation in installer in Google Chrome on OS X prior to 83.0.4103.61 allowed a local attacker to perform privilege escalation via a crafted file.
atop: symlink attack possible due to insecure tempfile handling
Symbolic link manipulation vulnerability in McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows prior to 10.7.0 February 2020 Update allows authenticated local user to potentially gain an escalation of privileges by pointing the link to files which the user which not normally have permission to alter via carefully creating symbolic links from the ENS log file directory.
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for Windows prior to 11.6.100 allows a local, low privileged, attacker through the use of junctions to cause the product to load DLLs of the attacker's choosing. This requires the creation and removal of junctions by the attacker along with sending a specific IOTL command at the correct time.
Local privilege escalation during installation due to improper soft link handling. The following products are affected: Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office (Windows) before build 40278, Acronis True Image OEM (Windows) before build 42575.
Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
A link following vulnerability in the Damage Cleanup Engine component of Trend Micro Apex One and Trend Micro Apex One as a Service could allow a local attacker to escalate privileges by creating a symbolic link and abusing the service to delete a file. Please note: an attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability.
A vulnerability was found in Freedom of the Press SecureDrop. It has been rated as critical. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality of the file gpg-agent.conf. The manipulation leads to symlink following. Local access is required to approach this attack. The name of the patch is b0526a06f8ca713cce74b63e00d3730618d89691. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. The identifier of this vulnerability is VDB-215972.
RenderDoc before 1.27 allows local privilege escalation via a symlink attack. It relies on the /tmp/RenderDoc directory regardless of ownership.
Microsoft Office Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
uptimed before 0.4.6-r1 on Gentoo allows local users (with access to the uptimed user account) to gain root privileges by creating a hard link within the /var/spool/uptimed directory, because there is an unsafe chown -R call.
NVIDIA GeForce Experience contains a vulnerability in the NVContainer component, where a user without administrator privileges can create a symbolic link to a file that requires elevated privileges to write to or modify, which may lead to denial of service, escalation of privilege or limited data tampering.
The nginx package before 1.6.2-5+deb8u3 on Debian jessie, the nginx packages before 1.4.6-1ubuntu3.6 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, before 1.10.0-0ubuntu0.16.04.3 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, and before 1.10.1-0ubuntu1.1 on Ubuntu 16.10, and the nginx ebuild before 1.10.2-r3 on Gentoo allow local users with access to the web server user account to gain root privileges via a symlink attack on the error log.
OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.25 contain a symlink traversal vulnerability in browser trace and download output path handling that allows local attackers to escape the managed temp root directory. An attacker with local access can create symlinks to route file writes outside the intended temp directory, enabling arbitrary file overwrite on the affected system.
Windows Server Update Service (WSUS) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
A Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') vulnerability in SUSE SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP5 postfix, SUSE SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5 postfix, SUSE openSUSE Leap 15.5 postfix.This issue affects SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP5: before 3.7.3-150500.3.5.1; SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5: before 3.7.3-150500.3.5.1; openSUSE Leap 15.5 : before 3.7.3-150500.3.5.1.
Wacom Drivers for Windows Link Following Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of Wacom Drivers for Windows. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the Tablet Service. By creating a symbolic link, an attacker can abuse the service to create a file. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of SYSTEM. Was ZDI-CAN-16857.
A vulnerability was detected in ermig1979 AntiDupl up to 2.3.12. Impacted is an unknown function of the file AntiDupl.NET.WinForms.exe of the component Delete Duplicate Image Handler. The manipulation results in link following. The attack is only possible with local access. The vendor was contacted early about this disclosure but did not respond in any way.
Windows Container Manager Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Location Framework in Apple iOS before 8.4.1 allows local users to bypass intended restrictions on filesystem modification via a symlink.
A link following vulnerability in Trend Micro Deep Security 20 and Cloud One - Workload Security Agent for Windows could allow a local attacker to escalate privileges on affected installations. Please note: an attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability.
A vulnerability in the Cisco Application Framework component of the Cisco IOx application environment could allow an authenticated, local attacker to overwrite arbitrary files in the virtual instance that is running on the affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient path restriction enforcement. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including a crafted file in an application package. An exploit could allow the attacker to overwrite files.
The default event handling scripts in Automatic Bug Reporting Tool (ABRT) allow local users to gain privileges as demonstrated by a symlink attack on a var_log_messages file.
Local privilege vulnerability in Yandex Browser for Windows prior to 22.3.3.684 allows a local, low privileged, attacker to execute arbitary code with the SYSTEM privileges through manipulating symlinks to installation file during Yandex Browser update process.
In open buildservice 2.6 before 2.6.3, 2.5 before 2.5.7 and 2.4 before 2.4.8 the source service patch application could generate non-standard files like symlinks or device nodes, which could allow buildservice users to break of confinement or cause denial of service attacks on the source service.
Improper Link Resolution Before File Access in the AWS VPN Client for macOS versions 1.3.2- 5.2.0 allows a local user to execute code with elevated privileges. Insufficient validation checks on the log destination directory during log rotation could allow a non-administrator user to create a symlink from a client log file to a privileged location. On log rotation, this could lead to code execution with root privileges if the user made crafted API calls which injected arbitrary code into the log file. We recommend users upgrade to AWS VPN Client for macOS 5.2.1 or the latest version.
Exim 4 before 4.94.2 allows Execution with Unnecessary Privileges. Because Exim operates as root in the log directory (owned by a non-root user), a symlink or hard link attack allows overwriting critical root-owned files anywhere on the filesystem.
Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac 2020 (Consumer) is vulnerable to a symbolic link privilege escalation attack where an attacker could exploit a critical file on the system to escalate their privileges. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability.
Avira Internet Security contains an improper link resolution vulnerability in the Software Updater component. During the update process, a privileged service running as SYSTEM deletes a file under C:\\ProgramData without validating whether the path resolves through a symbolic link or reparse point. A local attacker can create a malicious link to redirect the delete operation to an arbitrary file, resulting in deletion of attacker-chosen files with SYSTEM privileges. This may lead to local privilege escalation, denial of service, or system integrity compromise depending on the targeted file and operating system configuration.
A symlink issue exists in Iceweasel-firegpg before 0.6 due to insecure tempfile handling.
Privilege escalation via arbitrary file write in pritunl electron client 1.0.1116.6 through v1.2.2550.20. Successful exploitation of the issue may allow an attacker to execute code on the effected system with root privileges.
A link following vulnerability in the scanning function of Trend Micro Apex One and Worry-Free Business Security agents could allow a local attacker to escalate privileges on affected installations. The resolution for this issue has been deployed automatically via ActiveUpdate to customers in an updated Spyware pattern. Customers who are up-to-date on detection patterns are not required to take any additional steps to mitigate this issue.
A security flaw has been discovered in Softland FBackup up to 9.9. This impacts an unknown function in the library C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ink\HID.dll of the component Backup/Restore. The manipulation results in link following. The attack needs to be approached locally. The exploit has been released to the public and may be used for attacks. The vendor was contacted early about this disclosure but did not respond in any way.
Dell Optimizer, versions prior to 6.3.1, contain an Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') vulnerability. A low privileged attacker with local access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to Elevation of Privileges.
Trend Micro Security 2022 (consumer) has a link following vulnerability where an attacker with lower privileges could manipulate a mountpoint which could lead to escalation of privilege on an affected machine.