# CVE-2019-3690: chkstat follows untrusted symbolic links

> Local attackers can escalate privileges by exploiting symbolic link following in the chkstat tool within the SUSE permissions package.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 5 Dec 2019
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jxhx-2gqw-c77x, SUSE-SU-2019:14237-1

## What is CVE-2019-3690?

CVE-2019-3690 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Opensuse Leap, published on 5 Dec 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The chkstat tool in the permissions package followed symlinks before commit a9e1d26cd49ef9ee0c2060c859321128a6dd4230 (please also check the additional hardenings after this fix). This allowed local attackers with control over a path that is traversed by chkstat to escalate privileges.

Weakness: CWE-59 (Improper Link Resolution Before File Access)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-3690?

It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `permissions` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Point of Sale 11 SP3 | All versions | 2013.1.7-0.6.5.1 |
| `permissions` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4-LTSS | All versions | 2013.1.7-0.6.5.1 |

Products: Opensuse Leap.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-3690?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2019-3690 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-3690 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Opensuse Leap

- [CVE-2015-4902](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-4902/): Oracle Java SE Integrity Check (medium 5.3, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-14804](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-14804/): package builds could use directory traversal to write outside of target area (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2019-20787](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-20787/): Teeworlds before 0.7.4 has an integer overflow when computing a tilemap size. (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-8341](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-8341/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-6438](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-6438/): Other in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-3690 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-3690 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Opensuse Leap, published on 5 Dec 2019. 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-2019-3690 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Opensuse Leap. 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-2019-3690/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-3690/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-3690
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-3690
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-3690

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-3690/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.