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

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.

Published: 2020-04-02 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-8017 is rated Low Risk (26.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). 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-2020-8017

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 2025-10-14 0.07% 0.02% -0.05%
2 2025-03-17 0.04% 0.07% +0.03%
3 2023-03-07 — 0.04% —

Full EPSS history (7 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-8017

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.2 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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.
 2.5 3.6 [email protected]
6.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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: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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful 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.
 1.0 5.2 [email protected]
3.3 2.0 LOW
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 3.4 4.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-8017

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-8017

vendor priority summary link
ubuntu medium CVE-2020-8017 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (texlive-base), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bionic, eoan, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 4, DNE 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-8017

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-8017

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
opensuse texlive-filesystem < 2017.135-9.5.1 cpe:2.3:a:opensuse:texlive-filesystem:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse texlive-filesystem < 2013.74-16.5.1 cpe:2.3:a:opensuse:texlive-filesystem:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse texlive-filesystem — cpe:2.3:a:opensuse:texlive-filesystem:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse texlive-filesystem < 2017.135-lp151.8.3.1 cpe:2.3:a:opensuse:texlive-filesystem:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse leap 15.1 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-8017

URL Tags
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-06/msg00021.html Broken Link Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1158910 Issue Tracking Vendor Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence