GNU Coreutils up to 8.29 chown-core.c chown/chgrp -R -L race condition

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
4.9	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as problematic has been identified in GNU Coreutils up to 8.29. This impacts the function chown/chgrp of the file chown-core.c. Executing a manipulation of the argument -R -L can lead to race condition. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2017-18018. The attack needs to be launched locally. No exploit is available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic was found in GNU Coreutils up to 8.29. This vulnerability affects the function chown/chgrp of the file chown-core.c. The manipulation of the argument -R -L with an unknown input leads to a race condition vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-362. The product contains a code sequence that can run concurrently with other code, and the code sequence requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence that is operating concurrently. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In GNU Coreutils through 8.29, chown-core.c in chown and chgrp does not prevent replacement of a plain file with a symlink during use of the POSIX "-R -L" options, which allows local users to modify the ownership of arbitrary files by leveraging a race condition.

The bug was discovered 12/20/2017. The weakness was published 01/04/2018 (Website). The advisory is shared for download at lists.gnu.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2017-18018 since 01/03/2018. The attack needs to be approached locally. The requirement for exploitation is a single authentication. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability was handled as a non-public zero-day exploit for at least 14 days. During that time the estimated underground price was around $0-$5k. The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 106514 (Fedora 27 : coreutils (2018-669520d2ba)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment. It is assigned to the family Fedora Local Security Checks and running in the context l. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 277211 (Fedora Security Update for coreutils (FEDORA-2018-669520d2ba)).

Upgrading eliminates this vulnerability. A possible mitigation has been published 4 weeks after the disclosure of the vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (106514). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Vendor

• GNU

Name

• Coreutils

Version

• 8.0
• 8.1
• 8.2
• 8.3
• 8.4
• 8.5
• 8.6
• 8.7
• 8.8
• 8.9
• 8.10
• 8.11
• 8.12
• 8.13
• 8.14
• 8.15
• 8.16
• 8.17
• 8.18
• 8.19
• 8.20
• 8.21
• 8.22
• 8.23
• 8.24
• 8.25
• 8.26
• 8.27
• 8.28
• 8.29

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.gnu.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CPE 2.2info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 4.9

VulDB Base Score: 5.3
VulDB Temp Score: 5.1
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 4.7
NVD Vector: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
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Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Race condition
CWE: CWE-362
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Nessus ID: 106514
Nessus Name: Fedora 27 : coreutils (2018-669520d2ba)
Nessus File: 🔍
Nessus Risk: 🔍
Nessus Family: 🔍
Nessus Context: 🔍

OpenVAS ID: 864660
OpenVAS Name: Fedora Update for coreutils FEDORA-2018-669520d2ba
OpenVAS File: 🔍
OpenVAS Family: 🔍

Qualys ID: 🔍
Qualys Name: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

Reaction Time: 🔍
0-Day Time: 🔍
Exposure Time: 🔍

Timelineinfo

12/20/2017 🔍
01/03/2018 +14 days 🔍
01/03/2018 +0 days 🔍
01/04/2018 +1 days 🔍
01/05/2018 +1 days 🔍
01/30/2018 +25 days 🔍
01/31/2018 +1 days 🔍
06/09/2025 +2686 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: gnu.org

Advisory: FEDORA-2018-669520d2ba
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2017-18018 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2017-18018
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-111340

Entryinfo

Created: 01/05/2018 08:51
Updated: 06/09/2025 19:00
Changes: 01/05/2018 08:51 (73), 12/28/2019 15:44 (3), 01/20/2023 09:20 (4), 06/09/2025 19:00 (18)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Discussion

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