# CVE-2016-5425: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local users in the tomcat group can gain root privileges due to weak file permissions on the Tomcat tmpfiles configuration.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 13 Oct 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-c7fc-mp9g-99j3, MINI-6q24-jvh2-3jpg, MINI-9jqx-pp7p-8523, MINI-w336-mpmj-v3fh

## What is CVE-2016-5425?

CVE-2016-5425 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apache Tomcat, published on 13 Oct 2016. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Tomcat package on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7, Fedora, CentOS, Oracle Linux, and possibly other Linux distributions uses weak permissions for /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/tomcat.conf, which allows local users to gain root privileges by leveraging membership in the tomcat group.

Weakness: CWE-276 (Incorrect Default Permissions)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-5425?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Apache Tomcat.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-5425?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2016-5425 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2016-5425 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Apache Tomcat 8/7/6 (RedHat Based Distros) - Local Privilege Escalation (exploitdb)
- Apache Tomcat on RedHat Based Systems Insecure Temp Config Privilege Escalation (metasploit)

## Other vulnerabilities in Apache Tomcat

- [CVE-2025-24813](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-24813/): Apache Tomcat Path Equivalence (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2016-8735](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8735/): Apache Tomcat Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-12617](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12617/): Apache Tomcat Remote Code Execution (high 8.1, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-12615](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12615/): Apache Tomcat on Windows Remote Code Execution (high 8.1, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-34486](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-34486/): Apache Tomcat Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data (high 7.5, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-5425 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-5425 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apache Tomcat, published on 13 Oct 2016. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2016-5425 exists.

Affected product: Apache Tomcat. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-5425/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-5425/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-5425
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-5425
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-5425

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-5425/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.