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Vulnerability record · CVE-2012-3440 · published 8 August 2012

CVE-2012-3440: Todd miller sudo link following vulnerability

Todd Miller · Sudo

A certain Red Hat script for sudo 1.7.2 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the /var/tmp/nsswitch.conf.bak temporary file.

5.6 CVSS 2.0 Medium EPSS 0.43% · top 64.6% CWE-59 · Link following
5.6CVSS 2.0 base score
0.43%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
2Affected product versions listed by NVD
6References, 2 tagged exploit
16 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

A certain Red Hat script for sudo 1.7.2 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the /var/tmp/nsswitch.conf.bak temporary file.

AV:L/AC:H/Au:N/C:N/I:C/A:C

Affected products

2 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/ovmbulletinjul2016-3090546.html
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/54868
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=844442 Exploit
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/ovmbulletinjul2016-3090546.html
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/54868
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=844442 Exploit

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Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2012-3440), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-30). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.