← Vulnerability feed

Vulnerability record · CVE-2016-1247 · published 29 November 2016

CVE-2016-1247: F5 nginx link following vulnerability

F5 · Nginx

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.

7.8 CVSS 3.1 High EPSS 4.9% · top 8.3% CWE-59 · Link following
7.8CVSS 3.1 base score, v2 7.2
4.9%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
2Affected product versions listed by NVD
30References, 8 tagged exploit
17 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

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.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

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

References

LinkTags
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/139750/Nginx-Debian-Based-Distros-Root-Privilege-Escalation.html ExploitThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Nov/78 Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2017/Jan/33 Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3701 Vendor Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539796/100/0/threaded Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93903 Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037104 Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3114-1 Vendor Advisory
https://legalhackers.com/advisories/Nginx-Exploit-Deb-Root-PrivEsc-CVE-2016-1247.html ExploitThird Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/CBIZEKHBOCKO7FUMCO4X53E
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ESTIADC7BDB6VTH4JAP6C6O
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/P3WOO7E5R2HT5XVOIOFPEFA
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-22 Third Party Advisory
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40768/ ExploitThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTswN1k1fQs ExploitThird Party Advisory
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/139750/Nginx-Debian-Based-Distros-Root-Privilege-Escalation.html ExploitThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Nov/78 Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2017/Jan/33 Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3701 Vendor Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539796/100/0/threaded Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93903 Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037104 Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3114-1 Vendor Advisory
https://legalhackers.com/advisories/Nginx-Exploit-Deb-Root-PrivEsc-CVE-2016-1247.html ExploitThird Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/CBIZEKHBOCKO7FUMCO4X53E
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ESTIADC7BDB6VTH4JAP6C6O
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/P3WOO7E5R2HT5XVOIOFPEFA
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-22 Third Party Advisory
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40768/ ExploitThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTswN1k1fQs ExploitThird Party Advisory

Track CVE-2016-1247 inside VULONE

Watch it alongside the ransomware crews, C2 infrastructure and forum chatter that reference it, query it through the API and pull it into your SIEM over TAXII.

Start free Open in platform

Related vulnerabilities

Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.

10.0CVE-2021-44228Apache Log4j2 JNDI lookup remote code executionApache Log4j2 versions 2.0-beta9 through 2.15.0 (excluding 2.12.2, 2.12.3, and 2.3.1) do not protect against attacker-controlled LDAP and other JNDI …KEVEPSS 100%analysed9.8CVE-2024-4577PHP-CGI on Windows argument injection leads to remote code executionPHP-CGI on Windows can misinterpret characters in the command line passed to Win32 API functions when certain code pages are configured, due to Windo…KEVEPSS 100%analysed9.8CVE-2021-44026Roundcube Webmail SQL injection via search parametersRoundcube Webmail before 1.3.17 and 1.4.x before 1.4.12 is prone to SQL injection through the search or search_params input. The flaw is remotely rea…KEVEPSS 70%analysed9.8CVE-2021-42013Apache HTTP Server path traversal and RCE via incomplete fixThe fix for CVE-2021-41773 in Apache HTTP Server 2.4.50 was insufficient, leaving a path traversal flaw that lets attackers map URLs to files outside…KEVEPSS 100%analysed9.8CVE-2021-41773Apache HTTP Server 2.4.49 path traversal and RCEA path normalization flaw introduced in Apache HTTP Server 2.4.49 lets attackers map URLs to files outside directories configured by Alias-like direc…KEVEPSS 100%analysed9.8CVE-2021-1870Apple WebKit logic flaw allows remote code executionA logic issue in Apple's WebKit was addressed with improved restrictions, affecting macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, iOS and iPadOS, plus WebKitGTK a…KEVEPSS 7.7%analysed9.8CVE-2021-1871Apple WebKit logic flaw allows remote code executionA logic issue in Apple's WebKit was addressed with improved restrictions. It affects macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, iOS and iPadOS, and a remote at…KEVEPSS 7.0%analysed9.8CVE-2020-16846SaltStack Salt API shell injection via crafted web requestsSaltStack Salt through 3002 is vulnerable to OS command injection when the SSH client is enabled and crafted web requests are sent to the Salt API. T…KEVEPSS 100%analysed

Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2016-1247), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-26). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.