Description
Spring Boot supports an embedded launch script that can be used to easily run the application as a systemd or init.d linux service. The script included with Spring Boot 1.5.9 and earlier and 2.0.0.M1 through 2.0.0.M7 is susceptible to a symlink attack which allows the "run_user" to overwrite and take ownership of any file on the same system. In order to instigate the attack, the application must be installed as a service and the "run_user" requires shell access to the server. Spring Boot application that are not installed as a service, or are not using the embedded launch script are not susceptible.
References (1)
Core 1
Core References
Vendor Advisory x_refsource_confirm
https://pivotal.io/security/cve-2018-1196
Scores
CVSS v3
5.9
EPSS
0.0060
EPSS Percentile
69.8%
Attack Vector
NETWORK
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Details
CWE
CWE-59
Status
published
Products (3)
org.springframework.boot/spring-boot
1.5.0 - 1.5.10Maven
vmware/spring_boot
2.0.0 milestone1 (7 CPE variants)
vmware/spring_boot
< 1.5.9
Published
Mar 19, 2018
Tracked Since
Feb 18, 2026