CVE-2017-16997
HIGHEPSS 84th pctlDescription
elf/dl-load.c in the GNU C Library (aka glibc or libc6) 2.19 through 2.26 mishandles RPATH and RUNPATH containing $ORIGIN for a privileged (setuid or AT_SECURE) program, which allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse library in the current working directory, related to the fillin_rpath and decompose_rpath functions. This is associated with misinterpretion of an empty RPATH/RUNPATH token as the "./" directory. NOTE: this configuration of RPATH/RUNPATH for a privileged program is apparently very uncommon; most likely, no such program is shipped with any common Linux distribution.
How to fix
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Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Elevated risk: more likely to be exploited than 84% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-426 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2015-0096 | High | 9.3 | 71% | - | - |
| CVE-2016-10009 | High | 7.3 | 37% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2016-0016 | High | 7.8 | 31% | - | - |
| CVE-2012-1854 | High | 7.8 | 21% | KEV | - |
| CVE-2018-12589 | High | 7.8 | 20% | - | - |
| CVE-2022-22047 | High | 7.8 | 19% | KEV | Fix |
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-05-13.