{
    "id": "CVE-2016-1240",
    "published": "2016-10-03 15:59:00",
    "last_modified": "2026-06-17 00:41:32",
    "cvss_score": "7.8",
    "cvss_severity": "HIGH",
    "cvss_version": "3.0",
    "cvss_vector": "CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
    "cwe": "CWE-20",
    "description": "The Tomcat init script in the tomcat7 package before 7.0.56-3+deb8u4 and tomcat8 package before 8.0.14-1+deb8u3 on Debian jessie and the tomcat6 and libtomcat6-java packages before 6.0.35-1ubuntu3.8 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, the tomcat7 and libtomcat7-java packages before 7.0.52-1ubuntu0.7 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, and tomcat8 and libtomcat8-java packages before 8.0.32-1ubuntu1.2 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS allows local users with access to the tomcat account to gain root privileges via a symlink attack on the Catalina log file, as demonstrated by /var/log/tomcat7/catalina.out.",
    "epss_score": "0.09783",
    "epss_percentile": "0.95408",
    "kev": 0,
    "kev_due": null,
    "has_exploit": 1,
    "updated_at": "2026-10-03 18:17:15",
    "priority": {
        "rank": 2,
        "label": "Patch early",
        "why": "A public exploit exists."
    },
    "products": [
        {
            "vendor": "apache",
            "product": "tomcat"
        },
        {
            "vendor": "canonical",
            "product": "ubuntu_linux"
        },
        {
            "vendor": "debian",
            "product": "debian_linux"
        }
    ],
    "kev_detail": null,
    "exploits": [
        {
            "source": "exploit-db",
            "ref_id": "40450",
            "title": "Apache Tomcat 8/7/6 (Debian-Based Distros) - Local Privilege Escalation",
            "date": "2016-10-03",
            "url": "https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40450"
        }
    ],
    "refs_list": [
        "http://legalhackers.com/advisories/Tomcat-DebPkgs-Root-Privilege-Escalation-Exploit-CVE-2016-1240.html",
        "http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/170857/Apache-Tomcat-On-Ubuntu-Log-Init-Privilege-Escalation.html",
        "http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0457.html",
        "http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3669",
        "http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3670",
        "http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539519/100/0/threaded",
        "http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93263",
        "http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036845",
        "http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3081-1",
        "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:0455",
        "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:0456",
        "https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201705-09",
        "https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20180731-0002/",
        "https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40450/",
        "http://legalhackers.com/advisories/Tomcat-DebPkgs-Root-Privilege-Escalation-Exploit-CVE-2016-1240.html",
        "http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/170857/Apache-Tomcat-On-Ubuntu-Log-Init-Privilege-Escalation.html",
        "http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0457.html",
        "http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3669",
        "http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3670",
        "http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539519/100/0/threaded",
        "http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93263",
        "http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036845",
        "http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3081-1",
        "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:0455",
        "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:0456"
    ]
}