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LogrotateApplication · Gentoo

CVE-2011-1548

MEDIUM · 6.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2011-03-30
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The default configuration of logrotate on Debian GNU/Linux uses root privileges to process files in directories that permit non-root write access, which allows local users to conduct symlink and hard link attacks by leveraging logrotate's lack of support for untrusted directories, as demonstrated by /var/log/postgresql/.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The default logrotate configuration on Debian runs as root to process log files in directories that are writable by non-root users (e.g., /var/log/postgresql/). Local attackers can exploit this by creating symlinks or hardlinks within these directories that logrotate will follow with root privileges, allowing arbitrary file overwrite.

MitigationRestrict write permissions on log directories to root only, or configure logrotate to run as a non-privileged user for specific configurations.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
LogrotateApplication
Affected:all versions

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify logrotate is installed
    Run 'which logrotate' or check your package manager for the logrotate package
    Affected if logrotate is installed and you use it to rotate logs in world-writable directories
  2. List all log directories under /var/log
    Run 'ls -la /var/log/' to see all log subdirectories and their permissions
    Affected if Any subdirectory (such as /var/log/postgresql/) shows permissions allowing write access to non-root users (e.g., 'drwxrwxrwx' or 'drwxrwxr-x')
  3. Check for writable log directories
    Run 'find /var/log -type d -perm -002' to find directories writable by any user
    Affected if Any log directory is writable by non-root users (permission bit 'w' set for 'others')
  4. Identify symlinks in writable log directories
    Run 'find /var/log -type l -ls' and 'find /var/log -type d -perm -002 -exec ls -la {} \;' to inspect for symlinks or suspicious files
    Affected if Symlinks or unexpected files exist in directories writable by non-root users that could be targeted for symlink/hardlink attacks
  5. Review logrotate configuration files
    Check /etc/logrotate.conf and files in /etc/logrotate.d/ for configurations that process logs in world-writable directories
    Affected if Logrotate is configured to process log files located in directories writable by non-root users

You are affected if logrotate processes log files in directories that non-root users can write to, enabling symlink or hardlink attacks for arbitrary file overwrite.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Restrict write permissions on log directories to root only, or configure logrotate to run as a non-privileged user for specific configurations.

Fix this in Logrotate Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-1548 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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