CVE-2016-1240

Publication date 16 September 2016

Last updated 25 August 2025

Ubuntu priority

Medium

Why this priority?

Cvss 3 Severity Score

7.8 · High

Score breakdown

Description

The Tomcat init script in the tomcat7 package before 7.0.56-3+deb8u4 and tomcat8 package before 8.0.14-1+deb8u3 on Debian jessie and the tomcat6 and libtomcat6-java packages before 6.0.35-1ubuntu3.8 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, the tomcat7 and libtomcat7-java packages before 7.0.52-1ubuntu0.7 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, and tomcat8 and libtomcat8-java packages before 8.0.32-1ubuntu1.2 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS allows local users with access to the tomcat account to gain root privileges via a symlink attack on the Catalina log file, as demonstrated by /var/log/tomcat7/catalina.out.

From the Ubuntu Security Team

Dawid Golunski discovered that the Tomcat init script incorrectly handled creating log files. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to obtain root privileges.

Status

Package Ubuntu Release Status
tomcat6 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
19.10 eoan Not in release
19.04 disco Not in release
18.10 cosmic Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic Not in release
17.10 artful Not in release
17.04 zesty Not in release
16.10 yakkety Not in release
16.04 LTS xenial
Fixed 6.0.45+dfsg-1ubuntu0.2
14.04 LTS trusty
Fixed 6.0.39-1ubuntu0.1
12.04 LTS precise
Fixed 6.0.35-1ubuntu3.8
tomcat7 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
19.10 eoan Not in release
19.04 disco Not in release
18.10 cosmic
Not affected
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
17.10 artful Ignored end of life
17.04 zesty Ignored end of life
16.10 yakkety Ignored end of life
16.04 LTS xenial
Fixed 7.0.68-1ubuntu0.3
14.04 LTS trusty
Fixed 7.0.52-1ubuntu0.7
12.04 LTS precise Ignored end of life
tomcat8 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
19.10 eoan Not in release
19.04 disco Not in release
18.10 cosmic
Fixed 8.0.36-2ubuntu1
18.04 LTS bionic
Fixed 8.0.36-2ubuntu1
17.10 artful
Fixed 8.0.36-2ubuntu1
17.04 zesty
Fixed 8.0.36-2ubuntu1
16.10 yakkety
Fixed 8.0.36-2ubuntu1
16.04 LTS xenial
Fixed 8.0.32-1ubuntu1.2
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
12.04 LTS precise Not in release

Severity score breakdown

Parameter Value
Base score 7.8 · High
Attack vector Local
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required Low
User interaction None
Scope Unchanged
Confidentiality High
Integrity impact High
Availability impact High
Vector CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References

Related Ubuntu Security Notices (USN)

Other references