# CVE-2016-8605: Race condition in n/a

> A race condition in GNU Guile's mkdir function allows attackers to create directories with insecure permissions, potentially leading to privilege escalation or data exposure.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 12 Jan 2017
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2016-8605, GHSA-jxp8-7966-cm98, MGASA-2021-0340, SUSE-SU-2017:0394-1, SUSE-SU-2017:0398-1, SUSE-SU-2020:1659-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-8605, openSUSE-SU-2024:10415-1

## What is CVE-2016-8605?

CVE-2016-8605 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 12 Jan 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The mkdir procedure of GNU Guile temporarily changed the process' umask to zero. During that time window, in a multithreaded application, other threads could end up creating files with insecure permissions. For example, mkdir without the optional mode argument would create directories as 0777. This is fixed in Guile 2.0.13. Prior versions are affected.

Weakness: CWE-275

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-8605?

It affects 2 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `guile` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP1 | All versions | 2.0.9-8.3 |
| `guile` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP2 | All versions | 2.0.9-8.3 |
| `guile` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 | All versions | 1.8.5-24.1 |
| `guile` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP1 | All versions | 2.0.9-8.3 |
| `guile` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2 | All versions | 2.0.9-8.3 |
| `guile` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for Raspberry Pi 12 SP2 | All versions | 2.0.9-8.3 |
| `guile` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 11 SP4 | All versions | 1.8.5-24.1 |
| `guile` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP1 | All versions | 2.0.9-8.3 |
| `guile` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP2 | All versions | 2.0.9-8.3 |
| `guile` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 11 SP4 | All versions | 1.8.5-24.1 |
| `guile` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP1 | All versions | 2.0.9-8.3 |
| `guile` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP2 | All versions | 2.0.9-8.3 |
| `guile1` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP4 | All versions | 1.8.8-16.4.39 |
| `guile1` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP5 | All versions | 1.8.8-16.4.39 |
| `guile1` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 12 SP4 | All versions | 1.8.8-16.4.39 |
| `guile1` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 12 SP5 | All versions | 1.8.8-16.4.39 |

Products: Fedoraproject Fedora, Gnu Guile.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-8605?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2016-8605 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-8605 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Fedoraproject Fedora

- [CVE-2024-4577](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4577/): PHP-CGI OS Command Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-39226](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-39226/): Grafana Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-5544](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5544/): VMware ESXi and Horizon DaaS OpenSLP Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-4947](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4947/): Google Chromium V8 Type Confusion (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-4671](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4671/): Google Chromium Visuals Use-After-Free (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-8605 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-8605 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 12 Jan 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-8605 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Fedoraproject Fedora. 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-2016-8605/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8605/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-8605
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-8605
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-8605

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8605/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.