CVE-2016-1247

HIGH

nginx <1.6.2-5+deb8u3 - Privilege Escalation

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 1 public exploit for CVE-2016-1247. PoCs published by Dawid Golunski.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This exploit leverages unsafe error log handling in Nginx on Debian-based systems to escalate privileges from www-data to root. It involves symlinking the error log to /etc/ld.so.preload and injecting a shared library to manipulate SUID binaries.

Description

The nginx package before 1.6.2-5+deb8u3 on Debian jessie, the nginx packages before 1.4.6-1ubuntu3.6 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, before 1.10.0-0ubuntu0.16.04.3 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, and before 1.10.1-0ubuntu1.1 on Ubuntu 16.10, and the nginx ebuild before 1.10.2-r3 on Gentoo allow local users with access to the web server user account to gain root privileges via a symlink attack on the error log.

Exploits (1)

exploitdb WORKING POC
by Dawid Golunski · bashlocallinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40768

This exploit leverages unsafe error log handling in Nginx on Debian-based systems to escalate privileges from www-data to root. It involves symlinking the error log to /etc/ld.so.preload and injecting a shared library to manipulate SUID binaries.

Classification
Working Poc 100%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Nginx on Debian-based distributions (including Gentoo)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Local access as www-data user · Writable Nginx error log directory · Nginx configured with logrotate
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →

References (15)

Core 15
Core References
Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry exploit x_refsource_exploit-db
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40768/
Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry mailing-list x_refsource_bugtraq
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539796/100/0/threaded
Vendor Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_debian
http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3701
Exploit, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTswN1k1fQs
Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry vdb-entry x_refsource_bid
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93903
Vendor Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_ubuntu
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3114-1
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory mailing-list x_refsource_fulldisc
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2017/Jan/33
Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_gentoo
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-22
Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry vdb-entry x_refsource_sectrack
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037104
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory mailing-list x_refsource_fulldisc
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Nov/78

Scores

CVSS v3 7.8
EPSS 0.0486
EPSS Percentile 90.9%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Details

CWE
CWE-59
Status published
Products (4)
f5/nginx < 1.10.1
fedoraproject/fedora 33
fedoraproject/fedora 34
fedoraproject/fedora 35
Published Nov 29, 2016
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026