CVE-2018-6557
A local attacker could use this issue to cause a denial of service, or possibly escalate privileges if kernel symlink restrictions were disabled.
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.37%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
Description
The MOTD update script in the base-files package in Ubuntu 18.04 LTS before 10.1ubuntu2.2, and Ubuntu 18.10 before 10.1ubuntu6 incorrectly handled temporary files. A local attacker could use this issue to cause a denial of service, or possibly escalate privileges if kernel symlink restrictions were disabled.
- CVSS 3.1
- 7.0 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 0.37% probability · 31th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-59
- Affected
- base-files project/base-files · canonical/ubuntu linux
- Source
- security@ubuntu.com
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://www.securityfocus.com/bid/105148Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1041530Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3748-1/Vendor Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/105148Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1041530Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3748-1/Vendor Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.