rpm: Following symlinks to directories when installing packages allows privilege escalation
Published Aug 13, 2018
7.8
HIGHCVSS 3.0
EPSS 0.41%
Description
It was found that rpm did not properly handle RPM installations when a destination path was a symbolic link to a directory, possibly changing ownership and permissions of an arbitrary directory, and RPM files being placed in an arbitrary destination. An attacker, with write access to a directory in which a subdirectory will be installed, could redirect that directory to an arbitrary location and gain root privilege.
Affected products
- Vendor n/a Product Rpm Defaultn/a
- Version 4.13.0.2StatusaffectedConstraints-
- Version 4.14.0StatusaffectedConstraints-
- 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 | Rpm | n/a |
|
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
rpm
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
rpm
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
rpm
Will not fix
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | rpm | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | rpm | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | rpm | Will not fix | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat statement
Red Hat Product Security has rated this issue as having Moderate security impact. This issue is not currently planned to be addressed in future updates. For additional information, refer to the Issue Severity Classification: https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/.
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:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
1 other source (Red Hat) ▾
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
AV:L/AC:L/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
Percentile over time
- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
Table of values (10 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 0.41% (0.00412) | 33.06th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 0.41% (0.00415) | 35.53th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jul 20, 2024 | 0.05% (0.00052) | 21.27th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Jun 1, 2024 | 0.05% (0.00052) | 20.51th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Sep 3, 2023 | 0.05% (0.00052) | 18.51th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.04% (0.00044) | 10.26th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 0.89% (0.00890) | 30.33th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 0.89% (0.00890) | 12.04th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 0.83% (0.00833) | 24.58th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 0.83% (0.00833) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (7)
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-7500 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1450369 Issue Tracking
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2017-7500 x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue Tracking
- https://github.com/rpm-software-management/rpm/commit/c815822c8bdb138066ff58c624ae83e3a12ebfa9 x_refsource_CONFIRMThird Party Advisory
- https://github.com/rpm-software-management/rpm/commit/f2d3be2a8741234faaa96f5fd05fdfdc75779a79 x_refsource_CONFIRMThird Party Advisory
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-7500
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-7500
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-7500 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1450369 | Issue Tracking | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2017-7500 | x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue Tracking | |
| https://github.com/rpm-software-management/rpm/commit/c815822c8bdb138066ff58c624ae83e3a12ebfa9 | x_refsource_CONFIRMThird Party Advisory | |
| https://github.com/rpm-software-management/rpm/commit/f2d3be2a8741234faaa96f5fd05fdfdc75779a79 | x_refsource_CONFIRMThird Party Advisory | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-7500 | ||
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-7500 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.