Vulnerabilities
Misconfiguration
Compliance
CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2015-1196

Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')

Published: Jan 21, 2015 | Modified: Apr 12, 2025
CVSS 3.x
N/A
Source:
NVD
CVSS 2.x
4.3 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N
RedHat/V2
3.6 MODERATE
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N
RedHat/V3
Ubuntu
MEDIUM
Vulnerability-free packages from our partners
Additional information
NVDhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-1196
CWEhttps://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/59.html

GNU patch 2.7.1 allows remote attackers to write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack in a patch file.

Weakness

The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.

Affected Software

Name Vendor Start Version End Version
Opensuse Opensuse 13.1 (including) 13.1 (including)
Opensuse Opensuse 13.2 (including) 13.2 (including)
Patch Ubuntu devel *
Patch Ubuntu esm-infra-legacy/trusty *
Patch Ubuntu trusty *
Patch Ubuntu trusty/esm *
Patch Ubuntu upstream *
Patch Ubuntu utopic *
Patch Ubuntu vivid *

Potential Mitigations

  • Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
  • Denying access to a file can prevent an attacker from replacing that file with a link to a sensitive file. Ensure good compartmentalization in the system to provide protected areas that can be trusted.

References

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