CVE-2016-1240

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Summary

CVECVE-2016-1240
StatePUBLISHED
Assignerdebian
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2016-10-03 15:59:00 UTC
Updated2026-05-06 22:30:45 UTC
DescriptionThe Tomcat init script in the tomcat7 package before 7.0.56-3+deb8u4 and tomcat8 package before 8.0.14-1+deb8u3 on Debian jessie and the tomcat6 and libtomcat6-java packages before 6.0.35-1ubuntu3.8 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, the tomcat7 and libtomcat7-java packages before 7.0.52-1ubuntu0.7 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, and tomcat8 and libtomcat8-java packages before 8.0.32-1ubuntu1.2 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS allows local users with access to the tomcat account to gain root privileges via a symlink attack on the Catalina log file, as demonstrated by /var/log/tomcat7/catalina.out.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.0 7.8 HIGH from [email protected]

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Problem Types: CWE-20 | n/a

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.0[email protected]Primary7.8HIGHCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
2.0[email protected]Primary7.2AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

CVSS v3.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 Breakdown

Access Vector
Local
Access Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

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

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Application Apache Tomcat 6.0 All All All
Application Apache Tomcat 7.0 All All All
Application Apache Tomcat 8.0 All All All
Operating System Canonical Ubuntu Linux 12.04 All All All
Operating System Canonical Ubuntu Linux 14.04 All All All
Operating System Canonical Ubuntu Linux 16.04 All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Na N/a affected n/a Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
Apache Tomcat CVE-2016-1240 Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.securityfocus.com
Debian -- Security Information -- DSA-3669-1 tomcat7 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.debian.org Third Party Advisory
Debian -- Security Information -- DSA-3670-1 tomcat8 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.debian.org Third Party Advisory
November 2017 Apache Tomcat Vulnerabilities in NetApp Products | NetApp Product Security af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 security.netapp.com
Red Hat Customer Portal af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 access.redhat.com
Exploit – Page 40450 – Exploits Database af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.exploit-db.com
SecurityFocus af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.securityfocus.com
Apache Tomcat Unsafe chown Command in init Script Lets Local Users Obtain Root Privileges - SecurityTracker af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.securitytracker.com Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
Tomcat-DebPkgs-Root-Privilege-Escalation-Exploit-CVE-2016-1240 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 legalhackers.com
USN-3081-1: Tomcat vulnerability | Ubuntu af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.ubuntu.com Third Party Advisory
Apache Tomcat: Multiple vulnerabilities (GLSA 201705-09) — Gentoo Security af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 security.gentoo.org
Apache Tomcat On Ubuntu Log Init Privilege Escalation ≈ Packet Storm af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 packetstormsecurity.com
Red Hat Customer Portal af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 access.redhat.com
Red Hat Customer Portal af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 rhn.redhat.com
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

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