Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2017-9525

In the cron package through 3.0pl1-128 on Debian, and through 3.0pl1-128ubuntu2 on Ubuntu, the postinst maintainer script allows for group-crontab-to-root privilege escalation via symlink attacks against unsafe usage of the chown and chmod programs.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.7, requiring local system access to exploit with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 3 products from cron_project, from canonical, from debian organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

First disclosed in 2017, this vulnerability was reported during a period defined by widespread IoT adoption challenges, mobile security concerns, and the emergence of advanced persistent threat (APT) techniques. Contemporary mitigation strategies focused on secure development practices and third-party component vetting.

Published

2017-06-09T16:29:02.110

Last Modified

2025-04-20T01:37:25.860

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 6.7 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Access Vector: LOCAL
Access Complexity: MEDIUM
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: COMPLETE
Integrity Impact: COMPLETE
Availability Impact: COMPLETE

Exploitability Score

3.4

Impact Score

10.0

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-59

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	cron_project	cron	≤ 3.0pl1-128.	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	*	No
Operating System	debian	debian_linux	*	No
Operating System	debian	debian_linux	8.0	Yes
Operating System	debian	debian_linux	9.0	Yes

References

http://bugs.debian.org/864466 Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/06/08/3 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1038651 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/03/msg00025.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/10/msg00029.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://bugs.debian.org/864466 Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/06/08/3 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1038651 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/03/msg00025.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/10/msg00029.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For cron_project's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.