Local privilege escalation via /tmp symlink attack
Published Nov 23, 2022 · Updated Apr 25, 2025
Privilege escalation in open-vm-tools 2009.03.18-154848 allows local users to gain root privileges via a symlink attack on /tmp files. The vmware-user-suid-wrapper runs setuid root and, when ChmodChownDirectory is enabled, follows attacker-controlled symlinks during chmod/chown operations. Exploitation requires local access and the setuid wrapper with that option enabled, enabling confidentiality, integrity, and availability compromise.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in open-vm-tools 2009.03.18-154848 allows local users to gain root privileges via a symlink attack on /tmp files. The vmware-user-suid-wrapper runs setuid root and, when ChmodChownDirectory is enabled, follows attacker-controlled symlinks during chmod/chown operations. Exploitation requires local access and the setuid wrapper with that option enabled, enabling confidentiality, integrity, and availability compromise.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2009-1142
- Published
- Nov 23, 2022
- Updated
- Apr 25, 2025
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- CWE-59, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Nov 23, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 25, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
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What is affected?
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Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Technologies
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