CVE-2016-20015

Exp

In the ebuild package through smokeping-2.7.3-r1 for SmokePing on Gentoo, the initscript allows the smokeping user to gain ownership of any file, allowing for the smokeping user to gain root privileges. There is a race condition involving /var/lib/smokeping and chown.

Published: 2022-09-20 Last update: 2025-05-29 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-20015 is rated Exploit Available (59.7/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.55%). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2016-20015

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2016-20015

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.29% 0.55% +0.25%
2 2025-09-22 0.12% 0.29% +0.17%
3 2025-03-30 — 0.12% —

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-20015

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.6 5.9 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.6 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-20015

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-20015

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2016-20015: 1 source package rows (smokeping); 1 state rows across 1 repos (3.17-main); fixed 0, open 1. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2016-20015
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-20015 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (smokeping), 13 status rows across 13 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 7, ignored 6. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-20015

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-20015

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
smokeping smokeping <= 2.7.3-r1 cpe:2.3:a:smokeping:smokeping:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-20015

URL Tags
https://bugs.gentoo.org/602652 Exploit Issue Tracking Third Party Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence