{"id":"CVE-2016-1240","url":"https://www.cyber-defence.io/tools/cve/CVE-2016-1240","generatedAt":"2026-10-27T19:50:44.264Z","title":"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…","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.","published":"2016-10-03T15:59:00.000Z","lastModified":"2026-06-17T00:41:32.000Z","status":"Modified","sourceIdentifier":"security@debian.org","cvss":{"version":"3.0","score":7.8,"severity":"HIGH","vector":"CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"},"cwe":["CWE-20"],"affected":["apache/tomcat"],"epss":{"score":0.09783,"percentile":0.95506,"date":"2026-10-26","history":[]},"kev":{"listed":false},"exploits":{"count":1,"verified":true,"firstPublished":"2016-10-03","source":"Exploit-DB (https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb)","entries":[{"edbId":40450,"kind":"exploit","title":"Apache Tomcat 8/7/6 (Debian-Based Distros) - Local Privilege Escalation","url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40450","sourceUrl":"https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb/-/blob/main/exploits/linux/local/40450.txt","file":"exploits/linux/local/40450.txt","published":"2016-10-03","added":"2016-10-03","updated":"2016-10-03","author":"Dawid Golunski","type":"local","platform":"linux","port":null,"verified":true,"codes":["CVE-2016-1240"],"tags":null,"aliases":null,"applicationUrl":null,"screenshotUrl":null,"referenceUrl":"http://legalhackers.com/advisories/Tomcat-DebPkgs-Root-Privilege-Escalation-Exploit-CVE-2016-1240.html"}]},"verdict":{"level":"urgent","text":"A public exploit is published in Exploit-DB (verified) and the impact is high, while EPSS rates exploitation at 9.8%. Anyone can run this; patch or mitigate before the next change window and check exposed instances for signs of use."},"changes":[],"references":[{"url":"http://legalhackers.com/advisories/Tomcat-DebPkgs-Root-Privilege-Escalation-Exploit-CVE-2016-1240.html","source":"security@debian.org"},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/170857/Apache-Tomcat-On-Ubuntu-Log-Init-Privilege-Escalation.html","source":"security@debian.org"},{"url":"http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0457.html","source":"security@debian.org"},{"url":"http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3669","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"security@debian.org"},{"url":"http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3670","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"security@debian.org"},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539519/100/0/threaded","source":"security@debian.org"},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93263","source":"security@debian.org"},{"url":"http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036845","tags":["Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"security@debian.org"},{"url":"http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3081-1","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"security@debian.org"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:0455","source":"security@debian.org"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:0456","source":"security@debian.org"},{"url":"https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201705-09","source":"security@debian.org"},{"url":"https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20180731-0002/","source":"security@debian.org"},{"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40450/","source":"security@debian.org"},{"url":"http://legalhackers.com/advisories/Tomcat-DebPkgs-Root-Privilege-Escalation-Exploit-CVE-2016-1240.html","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/170857/Apache-Tomcat-On-Ubuntu-Log-Init-Privilege-Escalation.html","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0457.html","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3669","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3670","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539519/100/0/threaded","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93263","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036845","tags":["Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3081-1","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:0455","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:0456","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201705-09","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20180731-0002/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40450/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"}],"sources":{"nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-1240","epss":"https://www.first.org/epss/","kev":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","exploitdb":"https://www.exploit-db.com/"},"licence":"CC BY 4.0 — link back to the CVE Explorer if you publish the results; upstream data remains subject to its own terms."}