CVE-2017-18240

The Gentoo app-admin/collectd package before 5.7.2-r1 sets the ownership of PID file directory to the collectd account, which might allow local users to kill arbitrary processes by leveraging access to this account for PID file modification before a root script sends a SIGKILL (when the service is stopped).

Published: 2018-03-18 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2017-18240 is rated Low Risk (32.5/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.37%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2017-18240

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 0.04% 0.37% +0.33%
2 2025-03-30 0.06% 0.04% -0.02%
3 2025-03-29 — 0.06% —

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2017-18240

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 3.6 [email protected]
4.9 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 3.9 6.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2017-18240

OS Trackers for CVE-2017-18240

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2017-18240 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (collectd), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2017-18240
gentoo high CVE-2017-18240: 1 GLSA(s) (201803-10), 1 atom(s) (app-admin/collectd); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2017-18240
ubuntu medium CVE-2017-18240 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (collectd), 4 status rows across 4 suites (artful, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 4. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-18240

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2017-18240

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
collectd collectd <= 5.7.2 cpe:2.3:a:collectd:collectd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
collectd collectd 5.7.2 cpe:2.3:a:collectd:collectd:5.7.2:r1:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2017-18240

URL Tags
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/103469 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://bugs.gentoo.org/628540 Issue Tracking Vendor Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201803-10 Vendor Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence