CVE-2022-1537Public exploit

Local privilege escalation via destination symlink race

Published May 10, 2022 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

A TOCTOU race in Grunt before 1.5.3 allows local users to write arbitrary files through file.copy operations on attacker-controlled paths. The file.copy path checked and unlinked a destination symlink before file._copy wrote to the same path, allowing the link to be replaced between check and use. Exploitation requires a lower-privileged user to write both source and destination directories and can modify files owned by Grunt's account, including shell startup files.

CVSS severity7.0
High
EPSS probability0.30%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

A TOCTOU race in Grunt before 1.5.3 allows local users to write arbitrary files through file.copy operations on attacker-controlled paths. The file.copy path checked and unlinked a destination symlink before file._copy wrote to the same path, allowing the link to be replaced between check and use. Exploitation requires a lower-privileged user to write both source and destination directories and can modify files owned by Grunt's account, including shell startup files.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-1537
Published
May 10, 2022
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
GruntJS
Product
Grunt
Classifications
CWE-367, T1546.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 10, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 3, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=unspecified <1.5.3

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

GruntJS · Gruntversion=unspecified <1.5.3

Published CVSS scores

7.8UbuntuCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.0GitHub Advisory DatabaseCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-367Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition
T1546.004Unix Shell Configuration Modification

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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