MEDIUM
w3m: insecure temporary files creation when ~/.w3m is unwritable
Published Jan 25, 2018
4.7
MEDIUMCVSS 3.0
EPSS 0.40%
Description
w3m through 0.5.3 does not properly handle temporary files when the ~/.w3m directory is unwritable, which allows a local attacker to craft a symlink attack to overwrite arbitrary files.
Affected products
No data.
Configuration 2
OR
- 12.04
- 14.04
- 16.04
- 17.10
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
w3m
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
w3m
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
w3m
Not affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | w3m | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | w3m | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | w3m | 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.
4.7 MEDIUM NVD
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Attack Vector Local
Attack Complexity High
Privileges Required Low
User Interaction None
Scope Unchanged
Confidentiality Impact None
Integrity Impact High
Availability Impact None
1 other source (Red Hat) ▾
4.3 MEDIUM Red Hat
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N
Attack Vector Local
Attack Complexity Low
Privileges Required None
User Interaction None
Scope Changed
Confidentiality Impact None
Integrity Impact Low
Availability Impact None
3.3 LOW NVD
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P
Access Vector Local
Access Complexity Medium
Authentication None
Confidentiality Impact None
Integrity Impact Partial
Availability Impact Partial
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
0.40% 0.00395
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 2, 2026.
EPSS probability 0.00395
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 (8 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2, 2026 | 0.40% (0.00395) | 31.30th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 0.40% (0.00395) | 33.49th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jul 20, 2024 | 0.04% (0.00042) | 5.06th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.04% (0.00042) | 5.63th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 1.03% (0.01034) | 41.69th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 1.03% (0.01034) | 20.32th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 0.89% (0.00888) | 25.41th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 0.89% (0.00888) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (11)
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-04/msg00028.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_SUSE
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/102855 vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-6198 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugs.debian.org/888097 x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingPatchThird Party Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1539127 Issue Tracking
- https://github.com/tats/w3m/commit/18dcbadf2771cdb0c18509b14e4e73505b242753 x_refsource_CONFIRMPatchThird Party Advisory
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-6198
- https://salsa.debian.org/debian/w3m/commit/18dcbadf2771cdb0c18509b14e4e73505b242753 x_refsource_CONFIRMPatchThird Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3555-1/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3555-2/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-6198
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-04/msg00028.html | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_SUSE | |
| http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/102855 | vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry | |
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-6198 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugs.debian.org/888097 | x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingPatchThird Party Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1539127 | Issue Tracking | |
| https://github.com/tats/w3m/commit/18dcbadf2771cdb0c18509b14e4e73505b242753 | x_refsource_CONFIRMPatchThird Party Advisory | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-6198 | ||
| https://salsa.debian.org/debian/w3m/commit/18dcbadf2771cdb0c18509b14e4e73505b242753 | x_refsource_CONFIRMPatchThird Party Advisory | |
| https://usn.ubuntu.com/3555-1/ | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory | |
| https://usn.ubuntu.com/3555-2/ | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory | |
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-6198 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.
Sources
CVE.org / MITRE
Status PUBLISHED
Assigner mitre
Published Jan 25, 2018
Updated Aug 5, 2024
Reserved Jan 24, 2018
Link CVE-2018-6198
CISA Vulnrichment
Updated n/a