CVE-2016-1240
Severity CVSS v4.0:
Pending analysis
Type:
CWE-20
Input Validation
Publication date:
03/10/2016
Last modified:
12/04/2025
Description
The 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.
Impact
Base Score 3.x
7.80
Severity 3.x
HIGH
Base Score 2.0
7.20
Severity 2.0
HIGH
Vulnerable products and versions
| CPE | From | Up to |
|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:apache:tomcat:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | ||
| cpe:2.3:a:apache:tomcat:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | ||
| cpe:2.3:a:apache:tomcat:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | ||
| cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:* | ||
| cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:* | ||
| cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:* | ||
| cpe:2.3:a:apache:tomcat:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | ||
| cpe:2.3:a:apache:tomcat:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | ||
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
To consult the complete list of CPE names with products and versions, see this page
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
- http://legalhackers.com/advisories/Tomcat-DebPkgs-Root-Privilege-Escalation-Exploit-CVE-2016-1240.html
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/170857/Apache-Tomcat-On-Ubuntu-Log-Init-Privilege-Escalation.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0457.html
- http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3669
- http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3670
- http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539519/100/0/threaded
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93263
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036845
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3081-1
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:0455
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:0456
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201705-09
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20180731-0002/
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40450/
- http://legalhackers.com/advisories/Tomcat-DebPkgs-Root-Privilege-Escalation-Exploit-CVE-2016-1240.html
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/170857/Apache-Tomcat-On-Ubuntu-Log-Init-Privilege-Escalation.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0457.html
- http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3669
- http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3670
- http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539519/100/0/threaded
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93263
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036845
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3081-1
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:0455
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:0456
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201705-09
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20180731-0002/
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40450/



