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Fencer Vulns
medium 6.2

CVE-2006-5178 json

Race condition in the symlink function in PHP 5.1.6 and earlier allows local users to bypass the open_basedir restriction by using a combin…

published 2006-10-06 20 y ago modified 2026-06-16 4 mo ago also EUVD-2006-5163

cvss
6.2
version 2.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.7%
EPSS 0.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 51%
public exploits
1
Exploit-DB

Summary

Race condition in the symlink function in PHP 5.1.6 and earlier allows local users to bypass the open_basedir restriction by using a combination of symlink, mkdir, and unlink functions to change the file path after the open_basedir check and before the file is opened by the underlying system, as demonstrated by symlinking a symlink into a subdirectory, to point to a parent directory via .. (dot dot) sequences, and then unlinking the resulting symlink.

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. First public exploit (EDB-10557)

Exploit prediction

0.66% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 51% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • EDB-10557 PHP 5.2.12/5.3.1 - 'symlink()' open_basedir Bypass local, 2009-12-19
  • lists.grok.org.uk http://lists.grok.org.uk/pipermail/full-disclosure/2006-October/049850.html referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • securityfocus.com http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/20326 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • secunia.com http://secunia.com/advisories/22235 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • hardened-php.net http://www.hardened-php.net/advisory_082006.132.html referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • securitytracker.com http://securitytracker.com/id?1016977 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 2.0 6.2 AV:L/AC:H/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-362 Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization
Technology feeds

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.