# CVE-2020-8017: race condition on texlive-filesystem cron job allows for the deletion of unintended files

> Local users in the mktex group can exploit a race condition in a cron job to delete arbitrary files on the system.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **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:** 2 Apr 2020
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-h5g4-pg5p-f88v

## What is CVE-2020-8017?

CVE-2020-8017 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Opensuse Leap, published on 2 Apr 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A Race Condition Enabling Link Following vulnerability in the cron job shipped with texlive-filesystem of SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15-SP1, SUSE Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12-SP4, SUSE Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12-SP5; openSUSE Leap 15.1 allows local users in group mktex to delete arbitrary files on the system This issue affects: SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15-SP1 texlive-filesystem versions prior to 2017.135-9.5.1. SUSE Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12-SP4 texlive-filesystem versions prior to 2013.74-16.5.1. SUSE Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12-SP5 texlive-filesystem versions prior to 2013.74-16.5.1. openSUSE Leap 15.1 texlive-filesystem versions prior to 2017.135-lp151.8.3.1.

Weakness: CWE-367 (Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-8017?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Opensuse Leap, Opensuse Texlive-Filesystem.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-8017?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2020-8017 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-8017 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-2020-8017 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-8017 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Opensuse Leap, published on 2 Apr 2020. 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-2020-8017 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-2020-8017/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8017/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-8017
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-8017
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-8017

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8017/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.