# CVE-2017-16933: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can escalate privileges by exploiting insecure file ownership handling in the Icinga 2 initialization script.

- **Severity:** High 7.0 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/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:** 24 Nov 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2017-16933, GHSA-v3ww-m662-2527, UBUNTU-CVE-2017-16933

## What is CVE-2017-16933?

CVE-2017-16933 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 24 Nov 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

etc/initsystem/prepare-dirs in Icinga 2.x through 2.8.1 has a chown call for a filename in a user-writable directory, which allows local users to gain privileges by leveraging access to the $ICINGA2_USER account for creation of a link.

Weakness: CWE-732 (Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-16933?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Icinga Icinga.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-16933?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2017-16933 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-16933 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2025-48057](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-48057/): Icinga 2 certificate renewal might incorrectly renew an invalid certificate (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2020-29663](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-29663/): Security feature bypass in n/a (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2024-24820](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-24820/): Icinga Director configuration is susceptible to Cross-Site Request Forgery (high 8.3)
- [CVE-2018-6535](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6535/): Information disclosure in n/a (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2020-14004](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-14004/): Path traversal in n/a (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-16933 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-16933 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 24 Nov 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-16933 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2017-16933/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-16933/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-16933
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16933
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-16933

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-16933/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.