What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities

CVE-2024-5742: Nano: running `chmod` and `chown` on the filename allows malicious user to replace the emergency file with a malicious symlink to a root-owned file

• Severity: medium (CVSS 6.7 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: none known
• Published: 2024-06-12 · updated 2026-10-15
• Weakness: CWE-59

Description

A vulnerability was found in GNU Nano that allows a possible privilege escalation through an insecure temporary file. If Nano is killed while editing, a file it saves to an emergency file with the permissions of the running user provides a window of opportunity for attackers to escalate privileges through a malicious symlink.

Affected products

• GNU Nano: from 2.2.0 before 8.0 — fixed in 8.0
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux: 6.0, 7.0, 8.0, 9.0

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: GNU Nano 8.0. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:6986
• https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:9430
• https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-5742
• https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2278574
• https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-5742
• https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2278574
• https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2024/06/msg00006.html
• https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-398330.html

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