CVE-2018-6198
w3m through 0.5.3 does not properly handle temporary files when the ~/.w3m directory is unwritable, which allows a local attacker to craft a symlink attack to overwrite arbitrary files.
Does this matter?
Lower severity and a low EPSS score (0.40%). Track it; it rarely justifies an emergency change on its own.
Description
w3m through 0.5.3 does not properly handle temporary files when the ~/.w3m directory is unwritable, which allows a local attacker to craft a symlink attack to overwrite arbitrary files.
- CVSS 3.0
- 4.7 MEDIUMCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
- EPSS
- 0.40% probability · 33th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-59
- Affected
- tats/w3m · canonical/ubuntu linux
- Source
- cve@mitre.org
EPSS 0.4% since 27 October 2026; no change recorded yet. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
References
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-04/msg00028.html
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/102855Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://bugs.debian.org/888097Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/tats/w3m/commit/18dcbadf2771cdb0c18509b14e4e73505b242753Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://salsa.debian.org/debian/w3m/commit/18dcbadf2771cdb0c18509b14e4e73505b242753Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3555-1/Third Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3555-2/Third Party Advisory
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-04/msg00028.html
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/102855Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://bugs.debian.org/888097Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/tats/w3m/commit/18dcbadf2771cdb0c18509b14e4e73505b242753Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://salsa.debian.org/debian/w3m/commit/18dcbadf2771cdb0c18509b14e4e73505b242753Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3555-1/Third Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3555-2/Third Party Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.