CVE-2016-1531
high
CVSS v3
7.0
CVSS v4 NEW
—
VIR risk
8.0
Description
Exim before 4.86.2, when installed setuid root, allows local users to gain privileges via the perl_startup argument.
Predictions
Exploit likelihood
100%
Patch ETA
—
Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.
Mitigations
No mitigations published for this CVE yet.
The vendor-content worker queues fetches as references arrive (check back in a few minutes). Or — if you've already worked around this in production — publish your fix to the community-verified tier.
✚ Propose a mitigation on Community → Mitigations published via the community go through AI scoring + 2 human reviewers + 7-day silent objection window before landing here withsource_tier=community-verified.
Exploits
Public proof-of-concept code below. AS-IS, for defenders and authorised testing only.
Metasploit modules
Source code queued for fetch — refresh in a moment.
OS impact
| OS | Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| sles | affected | | |
| debian | bookworm | fixed | 4.86.2-1 |
| debian | bullseye | fixed | 4.86.2-1 |
| debian | forky | fixed | 4.86.2-1 |
| debian | sid | fixed | 4.86.2-1 |
| debian | trixie | fixed | 4.86.2-1 |
Application impact
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| exim | exim | {"endIncluding":"4.86"} | |
References
- https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-1531.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-03/msg00026.html
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/136124/Exim-4.84-3-Local-Root-Privilege-Escalation.html
- http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3517
- http://www.exim.org/static/doc/CVE-2016-1531.txt
- http://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/unix/local/exim_perl_startup
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1035512
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2933-1
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/39535/
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/39549/
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/39702/
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-1531
CWEs
CWE-264
Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.
Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.