glibc: Incorrect handling of RPATH in elf/dl-load.c can be used to execute code loaded from arbitrary libraries
Published Dec 18, 2017
7.8
HIGHCVSS 3.0
EPSS 2.90%
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.
Affected products
- Vendor n/a Product Glibc 2.19 Through 2.26 Defaultn/a
- Version glibc 2.19 through 2.26StatusaffectedConstraints-
- Version
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n/a | Glibc 2.19 Through 2.26 | n/a |
|
Configuration 1
Configuration 2
- 7.0
- 7.0
- 7.0
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
glibc-0:2.17-260.el7
Fixed · RHSA-2018:3092
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
compat-glibc
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
glibc
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
compat-glibc
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
glibc
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
compat-glibc
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
glibc
Not affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | glibc-0:2.17-260.el7 | Fixed | RHSA-2018:3092 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | compat-glibc | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | glibc | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | compat-glibc | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | glibc | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | compat-glibc | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | glibc | Not affected | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
No remediation recorded yet.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.1 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
1 other source (Red Hat) ▾
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
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
- EPSS v4
Percentile over time
- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
Table of values (29 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 2.90% (0.02895) | 86.43th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 22, 2026 | 2.90% (0.02895) | 86.32th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 21, 2026 | 4.86% (0.04856) | 91.65th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 2.90% (0.02895) | 86.31th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 6, 2026 | 2.70% (0.02698) | 84.94th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 5, 2026 | 4.86% (0.04856) | 91.47th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Aug 30, 2026 | 2.70% (0.02698) | 84.86th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Aug 28, 2026 | 4.86% (0.04856) | 91.42th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Aug 24, 2026 | 2.70% (0.02698) | 84.77th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Aug 23, 2026 | 4.86% (0.04856) | 91.38th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 2.70% (0.02698) | 83.92th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jul 13, 2025 | 0.81% (0.00813) | 73.30th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Jun 5, 2025 | 1.86% (0.01861) | 82.14th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Jun 1, 2025 | 0.84% (0.00844) | 73.74th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| May 28, 2025 | 2.19% (0.02192) | 83.57th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 30, 2025 | 0.81% (0.00813) | 72.05th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 29, 2025 | 6.89% (0.06890) | 85.30th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 28, 2025 | 0.81% (0.00813) | 72.05th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 27, 2025 | 6.89% (0.06890) | 90.08th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 20, 2025 | 0.81% (0.00813) | 72.13th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 19, 2025 | 6.89% (0.06890) | 90.23th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 0.46% (0.00460) | 62.03th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.08% (0.00084) | 37.56th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Jun 21, 2024 | 0.08% (0.00084) | 36.03th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.08% (0.00084) | 34.01th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 2.15% (0.02150) | 80.07th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 2.15% (0.02150) | 56.98th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 3.39% (0.03394) | 66.86th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 3.39% (0.03394) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (10)
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/102228 vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2019:0327 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHATThird Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3092 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHATThird Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-16997 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugs.debian.org/884615 x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingMailing ListPatchThird Party Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1526865 Issue Tracking
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16997
- https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=22625 x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingPatchThird Party Advisory
- https://sourceware.org/ml/libc-alpha/2017-12/msg00528.html x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingPatchThird Party Advisory
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-16997
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/102228 | vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry | |
| https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2019:0327 | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHATThird Party Advisory | |
| https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3092 | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHATThird Party Advisory | |
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-16997 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugs.debian.org/884615 | x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingMailing ListPatchThird Party Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1526865 | Issue Tracking | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16997 | ||
| https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=22625 | x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingPatchThird Party Advisory | |
| https://sourceware.org/ml/libc-alpha/2017-12/msg00528.html | x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingPatchThird Party Advisory | |
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-16997 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.