CVE-2018-12029
7.0 · HIGHOverview
CVE-2018-12029 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting phusion passenger. It was published on June 17, 2018 and has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 7.0 (HIGH).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 7.0, rated HIGH. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.
Technical Description
A race condition in the nginx module in Phusion Passenger 3.x through 5.x before 5.3.2 allows local escalation of privileges when a non-standard passenger_instance_registry_dir with insufficiently strict permissions is configured. Replacing a file with a symlink after the file was created, but before it was chowned, leads to the target of the link being chowned via the path. Targeting sensitive files such as root's crontab file allows privilege escalation.
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from phusion. Update passenger to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| phusion | passenger | >= 3.0.0, < 5.3.2 | Affected |
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2018-12029?
CVE-2018-12029 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting phusion passenger. It was published on June 17, 2018 and has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 7.0 (HIGH).
How severe is CVE-2018-12029?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 7.0, rated HIGH. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2018-12029?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from phusion. Update passenger to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2018-12029?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2018-12029 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
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