cbcvebase.
CVE-2014-4877
published 2014-10-29

CVE-2014-4877: Absolute path traversal vulnerability in GNU Wget before 1.16, when recursion is enabled, allows remote FTP servers to write to arbitrary files, and…

PriorityP269critical9.3CVSS 2.0
AVNACMAuNCCICAC
EXPLOIT
EPSS
39.88%
98.5th percentile
Absolute path traversal vulnerability in GNU Wget before 1.16, when recursion is enabled, allows remote FTP servers to write to arbitrary files, and consequently execute arbitrary code, via a LIST response that references the same filename within two entries, one of which indicates that the filename is for a symlink.

Affected

13 ranges
VendorProductVersion rangeFixed in
debianwget< wget 1.16-1 (bookworm)wget 1.16-1 (bookworm)
gnuwget<= 1.15
gnuwget
gnuwget
gnuwget
gnuwget
gnuwget
gnuwget
gnuwget
gnuwget>= 0 < 1.16-11.16-1
gnuwget>= 0 < 1.16-11.16-1
gnuwget>= 0 < 1.16-11.16-1
gnuwget>= 0 < 1.16-11.16-1

Detection & IOCsextracted from sources · hover to see the quote

versionGNU Wget < 1.16
commandwget -m (mirror mode / --retr-symlinks absent)
uaWget/1.13.4 (linux-gnu)
  • Detect exploitation attempts by monitoring FTP LIST responses that contain duplicate filename entries where one entry is a symlink — this is the core attack vector for CVE-2014-4877.
  • Flag invocations of wget using recursive/mirror mode (-r or -m flags) without --retr-symlinks, especially when connecting to untrusted or external FTP servers.
  • Monitor for unexpected symlink creation in directories writable by the user running wget, particularly during FTP recursive downloads — this is the filesystem artifact of successful exploitation.
  • Identify vulnerable wget versions (< 1.16) in use via User-Agent strings in HTTP/FTP traffic or via package inventory; Wget/1.13.4 observed in the wild during exploitation.
  • ·The vulnerability is only exploitable when wget is invoked with recursion enabled (-r) or mirror mode (-m). Non-recursive wget usage is not affected.
  • ·Adding 'retr-symlinks=on' to /etc/wgetrc or ~/.wgetrc mitigates the vulnerability without upgrading, by preventing local symlink creation during FTP recursive downloads.
  • ·Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 will NOT receive a fix for this CVE due to its Production 3 lifecycle phase; systems on RHEL 5 remain permanently vulnerable unless mitigated manually.

CVSS provenance

nvdv2.09.3CRITICALAV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
osv9.3CRITICAL
vendor_debian9.3CRITICAL
vendor_redhat9.3CRITICAL
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