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CVE-2018-6198· NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

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

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.

MediumCVSS 4.7 · v3.0—No exploit Fix available
Published
Jan 24, 2018
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
0.4% · 31th percentile
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Report tools

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Action score

18

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
18 / 40 · 4.7 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.4%

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

We don't hand-write analysis for the hundreds of thousands of vulnerabilities in the database; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.

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Affected systems

VendorProduct
tatsw3m
canonicalubuntu linux

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • canonical ubuntu linux12.04
  • canonical ubuntu linux14.04
  • canonical ubuntu linux16.04
  • canonical ubuntu linux17.10
  • tats w3mup to 0.5.3 inclusive

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Alpine:v3.23w3mbefore 0.5.3_git20241203-r00.5.3_git20241203-r0
Debian:12w3mbefore 0.5.3-360.5.3-36
openSUSE:Tumbleweedw3mbefore 0.5.3+git20180125-1.140.5.3+git20180125-1.14
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP3w3mbefore 0.5.3.git20161120-161.3.40.5.3.git20161120-161.3.4

Same product

tats: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2016-9429An issue was discovered in the Tatsuya Kinoshita w3m fork before 0.5.3-31.
    36Monitor
  • CVE-2016-9428An issue was discovered in the Tatsuya Kinoshita w3m fork before 0.5.3-31.
    36Monitor
  • CVE-2016-9426An issue was discovered in the Tatsuya Kinoshita w3m fork before 0.5.3-31.
    36Monitor
  • CVE-2016-9425An issue was discovered in the Tatsuya Kinoshita w3m fork before 0.5.3-31.
    36Monitor
  • CVE-2016-9424An issue was discovered in the Tatsuya Kinoshita w3m fork before 0.5.3-31.
    36Monitor
  • CVE-2016-9423An issue was discovered in the Tatsuya Kinoshita w3m fork before 0.5.3-31.
    36Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
alpine:w3m0.5.3_git20241203-r0 · Alpine:v3.23Package registry (OSV)
debian:w3m0.5.3-36 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:w3m0.5.3+git20180125-1.14 · openSUSE:TumbleweedPackage registry (OSV)
suse:w3m0.5.3.git20161120-161.3.4 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP3Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • No user action is required.
  • Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
none
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
None

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-59 · Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records