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Jboss Enterprise Web ServerApplication · Redhat

CVE-2013-1976

MEDIUM · 6.9 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-07-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
74/100
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 (1) tomcat5, (2) tomcat6, and (3) tomcat7 init scripts, as used in the RPM distribution of Tomcat for JBoss Enterprise Web Server 1.0.2 and 2.0.0, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and 6, allow local users to change the ownership of arbitrary files via a symlink attack on (a) tomcat5-initd.log, (b) tomcat6-initd.log, (c) catalina.out, or (d) tomcat7-initd.log.

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 tomcat5, tomcat6, and tomcat7 init scripts in Red Hat/JBoss RPM distributions fail to verify whether target files are symlinks before changing their ownership. Local attackers can pre-create symlinks pointing from log file paths (tomcat5-initd.log, tomcat6-initd.log, catalina.out, tomcat7-initd.log) to arbitrary system files, causing the init script to change ownership of those files when it runs.

MitigationAdd symlink detection checks in the init scripts before performing chown operations, or use 'chown -h' to avoid following symlinks. Alternatively, ensure log directories have restricted permissions preventing pre-creation of symlinks by untrusted users.

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
Jboss Enterprise Web ServerApplication
Affected:= 1.0.2= 2.0.0
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 5= 6.0

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
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/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. Identify installed Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Web Server version
    Run: rpm -q jbossas or rpm -qa | grep -i jboss to find the installed JBoss version
    Affected if Version equals 1.0.2 or 2.0.0 (exact match)
  2. Identify installed Red Hat Enterprise Linux version
    Run: cat /etc/redhat-release or rpm -q redhat-release
    Affected if Version equals 5 or 6.0 (exact match)
  3. Check for presence of vulnerable Tomcat init scripts
    Run: ls -la /etc/init.d/tomcat* to list Tomcat init scripts
    Affected if Any of tomcat5, tomcat6, or tomcat7 init scripts exist in /etc/init.d/
  4. Verify log directory permissions allow untrusted user symlink creation
    Run: ls -ld /var/log/tomcat* or check the configured log directory from init scripts; then check permissions with stat
    Affected if Log directory is world-writable or writable by a group that includes untrusted users (permissions show 'o+w' or 'g+w' for non-owner)
  5. Inspect init script for symlink protection in chown commands
    Run: grep -n 'chown' /etc/init.d/tomcat* to find chown operations; check if scripts use 'chown -h' or include symlink checks (test -L or test -h) before chown
    Affected if chown commands exist without -h flag and without prior symlink test (test -h or test -L)

Environment is affected if running RHEL 5/6.0 or JBoss EWS 1.0.2/2.0.0 with Tomcat init scripts present AND log directories are writable by untrusted users AND the init scripts lack symlink protection in chown operations

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

Add symlink detection checks in the init scripts before performing chown operations, or use 'chown -h' to avoid following symlinks. Alternatively, ensure log directories have restricted permissions preventing pre-creation of symlinks by untrusted users.

Fix this in Jboss Enterprise Web Server 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-2013-1976 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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