passenger: arbitrary file read via REVISION symlink
Published Dec 14, 2017
4.7
MEDIUMCVSS 3.1
EPSS 0.36%
Description
In agent/Core/SpawningKit/Spawner.h in Phusion Passenger 5.1.10 (fixed in Passenger Open Source 5.1.11 and Passenger Enterprise 5.1.10), if Passenger is running as root, it is possible to list the contents of arbitrary files on a system by symlinking a file named REVISION from the application root folder to a file of choice and querying passenger-status --show=xml.
Affected products
No data.
No data.
Red Hat Ceph Storage 1.3
ruby193-rubygem-passenger
Will not fix
Red Hat Ceph Storage 1.3
rubygem-passenger
Will not fix
Red Hat Satellite 6
ruby193-rubygem-passeger
Not affected
Red Hat Satellite 6
rubygem-passenger
Not affected
Red Hat Software Collections
rh-passenger40-passenger
Will not fix
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Ceph Storage 1.3 | ruby193-rubygem-passenger | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Ceph Storage 1.3 | rubygem-passenger | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Satellite 6 | ruby193-rubygem-passeger | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Satellite 6 | rubygem-passenger | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Software Collections | rh-passenger40-passenger | Will not fix | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
No remediation recorded yet.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
AV:L/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 1, 2026.
Score over time
2021–2026- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
Percentile over time
- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
Table of values (9 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 0.36% (0.00358) | 27.19th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 0.36% (0.00358) | 29.59th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jul 20, 2024 | 0.06% (0.00057) | 24.10th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Jun 20, 2024 | 0.06% (0.00057) | 23.69th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.06% (0.00057) | 21.65th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 0.95% (0.00950) | 32.28th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 0.95% (0.00950) | 13.46th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 1.04% (0.01040) | 28.32th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 1.04% (0.01040) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (10)
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-16355 Vendor Advisory
- https://blog.phusion.nl/2017/10/13/passenger-security-advisory-5-1-11/ x_refsource_CONFIRMThird Party Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1513377 Issue Tracking
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-cv3f-px9r-54hm Advisory
- https://github.com/phusion/passenger/commit/4043718264095cde6623c2cbe8c644541036d7bf x_refsource_CONFIRMPatchThird Party Advisory
- https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/passenger/CVE-2017-16355.yml
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16355
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Mar/34 mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQIssue TrackingMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-16355
- https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4415 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANThird Party Advisory
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-16355 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://blog.phusion.nl/2017/10/13/passenger-security-advisory-5-1-11/ | x_refsource_CONFIRMThird Party Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1513377 | Issue Tracking | |
| https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-cv3f-px9r-54hm | Advisory | |
| https://github.com/phusion/passenger/commit/4043718264095cde6623c2cbe8c644541036d7bf | x_refsource_CONFIRMPatchThird Party Advisory | |
| https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/passenger/CVE-2017-16355.yml | ||
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16355 | ||
| https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Mar/34 | mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQIssue TrackingMailing ListThird Party Advisory | |
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-16355 | ||
| https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4415 | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANThird Party Advisory |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.