Boot: Symlink privilege escalation attack via launch script
Published Mar 19, 2018
6.8
MEDIUMCVSS 3.0
EPSS 1.21%
Description
Spring Boot supports an embedded launch script that can be used to easily run the application as a systemd or init.d linux service. The script included with Spring Boot 1.5.9 and earlier and 2.0.0.M1 through 2.0.0.M7 is susceptible to a symlink attack which allows the "run_user" to overwrite and take ownership of any file on the same system. In order to instigate the attack, the application must be installed as a service and the "run_user" requires shell access to the server. Spring Boot application that are not installed as a service, or are not using the embedded launch script are not susceptible.
Affected products
-
- Version 1.5.0 - 1.5.9StatusaffectedConstraints-
- Version 2.0.0.M1 - 2.0.0.M7StatusaffectedConstraints-
- 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 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dell EMC | Spring Boot | n/a |
|
- ≤ 1.5.9
- 2.0.0
- 2.0.0
- 2.0.0
- 2.0.0
- 2.0.0
- 2.0.0
- 2.0.0
No data.
Red Hat JBoss Fuse 6
spring-boot
Not affected
Red Hat OpenShift Application Runtimes
spring-boot
Not affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat JBoss Fuse 6 | spring-boot | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat OpenShift Application Runtimes | spring-boot | 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:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
1 other source (Red Hat) ▾
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/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 | 1.21% (0.01212) | 67.39th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 1.21% (0.01212) | 67.14th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jul 20, 2024 | 0.08% (0.00085) | 36.63th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| May 22, 2024 | 0.08% (0.00085) | 36.01th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.08% (0.00084) | 33.94th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 0.89% (0.00885) | 27.89th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 0.89% (0.00885) | 10.50th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 0.42% (0.00416) | 10.04th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 0.42% (0.00416) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (6)
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-1196 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1542002 Issue Tracking
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-xx65-cc7g-9pfp Advisory
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-1196
- https://pivotal.io/security/cve-2018-1196 x_refsource_CONFIRMVendor Advisory
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-1196
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-1196 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1542002 | Issue Tracking | |
| https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-xx65-cc7g-9pfp | Advisory | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-1196 | ||
| https://pivotal.io/security/cve-2018-1196 | x_refsource_CONFIRMVendor Advisory | |
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-1196 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.