# CVE-2016-8742: Privilege escalation in Apache CouchDB

> Local attackers can escalate privileges to administrator by replacing executables in the CouchDB Windows installer directory due to inherited weak permissions.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/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:** No
- **Published:** 12 Feb 2018
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-gq4g-cfc7-fgw7

## What is CVE-2016-8742?

CVE-2016-8742 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apache CouchDB, published on 12 Feb 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Windows installer that the Apache CouchDB team provides was vulnerable to local privilege escalation. All files in the install inherit the file permissions of the parent directory and therefore a non-privileged user can substitute any executable for the nssm.exe service launcher, or CouchDB batch or binary files. A subsequent service or server restart will then run that binary with administrator privilege. This issue affected CouchDB 2.0.0 (Windows platform only) and was addressed in CouchDB 2.0.0.1.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-8742?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Apache Couchdb.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-8742?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-8742 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-8742 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2016-8742 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Apache CouchDB 2.0.0 - Local Privilege Escalation (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Apache CouchDB

- [CVE-2022-24706](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-24706/): Apache CouchDB Insecure Default Initialization of Resource (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-1955](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1955/): Auth bypass in Apache CouchDB (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-12635](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12635/): Privilege escalation in Apache CouchDB (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-14889](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-14889/): Code injection in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2021-38295](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-38295/): Privilege escalation vulnerability when using HTML attachments (high 7.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-8742 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-8742 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apache CouchDB, published on 12 Feb 2018. 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-2016-8742 exists.

Affected product: Apache CouchDB. 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-2016-8742/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8742/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-8742
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-8742
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-8742

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8742/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.