122
symlink :
Likelihood Of Exploit
Low
Common Consequences
Scope Impact Likelihood
Confidentiality
Integrity
Read Files or Directories
Modify Files or Directories
Potential Mitigations
Phase: Architecture and Design
Strategy = Separation of Privilege
Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software
system. Denying access to a file can prevent an attacker from replacing that file with a link to a
sensitive file. Ensure good compartmentalization in the system to provide protected areas that
can be trusted.
Observed Examples
Reference Description
CVE-2019-19793 network access control service executes program with high privileges and
allows symlink to invoke another executable or perform DLL injection.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-19793
CVE-2000-0342 Mail client allows remote attackers to bypass the user warning for executable
attachments such as .exe, .com, and .bat by using a .lnk file that refers to the
attachment, aka "Stealth Attachment."
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2000-0342
CVE-2001-1042 FTP server allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files and directories by
uploading a .lnk (link) file that points to the target file.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2001-1042
CVE-2001-1043 FTP server allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files and directories by
uploading a .lnk (link) file that points to the target file.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2001-1043
CVE-2005-0587 Browser allows remote malicious web sites to overwrite arbitrary files by
tricking the user into downloading a .LNK (link) file twice, which overwrites the
file that was referenced in the first .LNK file.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2005-0587
CVE-2001-1386 ".LNK." - .LNK with trailing dot
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2001-1386
CVE-2003-1233 Rootkits can bypass file access restrictions to Windows kernel directories
using NtCreateSymbolicLinkObject function to create symbolic link
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2003-1233
MemberOf Relationships
This MemberOf relationships table shows additional CWE Catgeories and Views that reference this
weakness as a member. This information is often useful in understanding where a weakness fits
within the context of external information sources.
Nature Type ID Name Page
MemberOf 743 CERT C Secure Coding Standard (2008) Chapter 10 -
Input Output (FIO)
734 2347
MemberOf 877 CERT C++ Secure Coding Section 09 - Input Output
(FIO)
868 2377
MemberOf 980 SFP Secondary Cluster: Link in Resource Name
Resolution
888 2409
CWE Version 4.14
CWE-65: Windows Hard Link
CWE-65: Windows Hard Link