CVE-2024-5742

Privilege escalation via emergency-file symlink race

Published Jun 12, 2024 · Updated Nov 21, 2025

Link-following in GNU nano before 8.0 allows local users to gain privileges by replacing a crash-recovery file with a symlink. Emergency-save handling creates a .save file, then applies chmod and chown by pathname, allowing a writable-directory user to swap in a symlink before those calls. Exploitation requires a privileged nano process editing a user-controlled file and a way for the local user to terminate that process during the race.

CVSS severity6.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.35%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Link-following in GNU nano before 8.0 allows local users to gain privileges by replacing a crash-recovery file with a symlink. Emergency-save handling creates a .save file, then applies chmod and chown by pathname, allowing a writable-directory user to swap in a symlink before those calls. Exploitation requires a privileged nano process editing a user-controlled file and a way for the local user to terminate that process during the race.

The record

CVE
CVE-2024-5742
Published
Jun 12, 2024
Updated
Nov 21, 2025
Vendor
Red Hat
Product
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
Classifications
CWE-59, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 12, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Nov 21, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected versions are unavailable in this record. Check the vendor advisory for version and patch details.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8Affected versions are unavailable in this record.
The GnuPG Project · GNU nanoAffected versions are unavailable in this record.
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9Affected versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

6.7Red Hat, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/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 exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-59Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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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