CVE-2014-2524
readline: insecure temporary file use in _rl_tropen()
Severity
LowRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 2.0
Review impact separately from score.
Published · March 14, 2014
Updated · November 21, 2025
Description
The _rl_tropen function in util.c in GNU readline before 6.3 patch 3 allows local users to create or overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a /var/tmp/rltrace.[PID] file.
Statement
This issue is only exposed via readline's debugging/tracing code and is not used by readline or any other application in Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The tracing functions are defined in a private header file and are only meant for the readline library's internal use. In general use, there is no exposure of this insecure temporary file issue, and while this does affect the versions of readline as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6 and 7 it is not currently planned to be addressed in future updates.
Red Hat Product Security has rated this issue as having Low security impact. For additional information, refer to the Issue Severity Classification: https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/.
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
No mitigation is specified in collected source.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 2.0 · 2.1AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N
CWE-377 · Insecure Temporary File