CVE-2016-5425

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Summary

CVECVE-2016-5425
StatePUBLISHED
Assignerredhat
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2016-10-13 14:59:07 UTC
Updated2026-05-06 22:30:45 UTC
DescriptionThe Tomcat package on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7, Fedora, CentOS, Oracle Linux, and possibly other Linux distributions uses weak permissions for /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/tomcat.conf, which allows local users to gain root privileges by leveraging membership in the tomcat group.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.8 HIGH from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS: 0.115520000 probability, percentile 0.936820000 (date 2026-05-07)

Problem Types: CWE-276 | n/a

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Primary7.8HIGHCVSS:3.1/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 v3.1 Breakdown

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

CVSS:3.1/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 - All All All
Application Oracle Instantis Enterprisetrack 17.1 All All All
Application Oracle Instantis Enterprisetrack 17.2 All All All
Application Oracle Instantis Enterprisetrack 17.3 All All All
Operating System Oracle Linux 7 - All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop 7.0 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Server 7.0 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus 7.2 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus 7.3 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus 7.4 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus 7.6 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus 7.7 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Eus 7.2 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Eus 7.3 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Eus 7.4 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Eus 7.5 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Eus 7.6 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Eus 7.7 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Tus 7.2 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Tus 7.3 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Tus 7.6 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Tus 7.7 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Workstation 7.0 All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

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

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
Tomcat-RedHat-Pkgs-Root-PrivEsc-Exploit-CVE-2016-5425 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 legalhackers.com Exploit, Third Party Advisory
Apache Tomcat 8/7/6 (RedHat-Based Distros) - Privilege Escalation af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.exploit-db.com Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
Apache Tomcat CVE-2016-5425 Insecure File Permissions Vulnerability af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.securityfocus.com Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
oss-security - CVE-2016-5425 - Apache Tomcat packaging on RedHat-based distros - Root Privilege Escalation (affecting CentOS, Fedora, OracleLinux, RedHat etc.) af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.openwall.com Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
Red Hat Customer Portal af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 rhn.redhat.com Third Party Advisory
Oracle Critical Patch Update - October 2019 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.oracle.com Third Party Advisory
Apache Tomcat 8 / 7 / 6 Privilege Escalation ≈ Packet Storm af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 packetstormsecurity.com Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
Apache Tomcat Weak Configuration File Permissions on Red Hat-based Systems Lets Local Users Obtain Root Privileges - SecurityTracker af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.securitytracker.com Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
Pony Mail! af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.apache.org
Oracle Linux Bulletin - October 2016 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.oracle.com Third Party Advisory
MISC:http://legalhackers.com/advisories/Tomcat-RedHat-based-Root-Privilege-Escalation-Exploit.txt MITRE legalhackers.com
Red Hat Customer Portal MITRE access.redhat.com
CVE-2016-5425 - Red Hat Customer Portal MITRE access.redhat.com
1362545 – (CVE-2016-5425) CVE-2016-5425 tomcat: Local privilege escalation via systemd-tmpfiles service MITRE bugzilla.redhat.com
Pony Mail! MITRE lists.apache.org
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

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