CVE-2017-7500
rpm: Following symlinks to directories when installing packages allows privilege escalation
Severity
ModerateRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.0
Review impact separately from score.
Published · July 3, 2017
Updated · June 30, 2026
Description
It was found that rpm did not properly handle RPM installations when a destination path was a symbolic link to a directory, possibly changing ownership and permissions of an arbitrary directory, and RPM files being placed in an arbitrary destination. An attacker, with write access to a directory in which a subdirectory will be installed, could redirect that directory to an arbitrary location and gain root privilege.
Statement
Red Hat Product Security has rated this issue as having Moderate security impact. This issue is not currently planned to be addressed in future updates. 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 3.0 · 7.3CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CWE-59 · Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')