CVE-2017-16997
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2017-16997 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | debian |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2017-12-18 01:29:00 UTC |
| Updated | 2025-04-20 01:37:25 UTC |
| Description | elf/dl-load.c in the GNU C Library (aka glibc or libc6) 2.19 through 2.26 mishandles RPATH and RUNPATH containing $ORIGIN for a privileged (setuid or AT_SECURE) program, which allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse library in the current working directory, related to the fillin_rpath and decompose_rpath functions. This is associated with misinterpretion of an empty RPATH/RUNPATH token as the "./" directory. NOTE: this configuration of RPATH/RUNPATH for a privileged program is apparently very uncommon; most likely, no such program is shipped with any common Linux distribution. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v3.0 7.8 HIGH from [email protected]
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS: 0.011330000 probability, percentile 0.785570000 (date 2026-05-18)
Problem Types: CWE-426 | improper RPATH/RUNPATH validation
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0 | [email protected] | Primary | 7.8 | HIGH | CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 2.0 | [email protected] | Primary | 9.3 | AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C |
CVSS v3.0 Breakdown
Attack Vector
LocalAttack Complexity
LowPrivileges Required
NoneUser Interaction
RequiredScope
UnchangedConfidentiality
HighIntegrity
HighAvailability
HighCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS v2.0 Breakdown
Access Vector
NetworkAccess Complexity
MediumAuthentication
NoneConfidentiality
CompleteIntegrity
CompleteAvailability
CompleteAV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version | Update | Edition | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application | Gnu | Glibc | 2.19 | All | All | All |
| Application | Gnu | Glibc | 2.20 | All | All | All |
| Application | Gnu | Glibc | 2.21 | All | All | All |
| Application | Gnu | Glibc | 2.22 | All | All | All |
| Application | Gnu | Glibc | 2.23 | All | All | All |
| Application | Gnu | Glibc | 2.25 | All | All | All |
| Application | Gnu | Glibc | 2.26 | All | 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 Workstation | 7.0 | All | All | All |
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Na | Glibc 2.19 Through 2.26 | affected glibc 2.19 through 2.26 | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| #884615 - src:glibc: CVE-2017-16997: incorrect RPATH/RUNPATH handling for SUID binaries - Debian Bug report logs | af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 | bugs.debian.org | Issue Tracking, Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory |
| Red Hat Customer Portal | af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 | access.redhat.com | Third Party Advisory |
| GNU C Library 'elf/dl-load.c ' CVE-2017-16997 Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability | af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 | www.securityfocus.com | Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry |
| Red Hat Customer Portal | af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 | access.redhat.com | Third Party Advisory |
| 22625 – (CVE-2017-16997) RPATH $ORIGIN replaced by PWD for AT_SECURE/SUID binaries or if /proc is not mounted (CVE-2017-16997) | af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 | sourceware.org | Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory |
| Aurelien Jarno - [PATCH] elf: Check for empty tokens before dynamic string token expansio | af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 | sourceware.org | Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
No vendor comments have been submitted for this CVE.
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.