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CVE-2016-1255

21
FAUCET Score

CVE-2016-1255 is a local privilege escalation vulnerability affecting the pg_ctlcluster script in the postgresql-common package across various Debian and Ubuntu distributions. An authenticated local attacker can leverage a symlink attack on logfiles in /var/log/postgresql to gain root privileges. With a CVSS v3 score of 7.8 (High), this vulnerability allows for complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability with low attack complexity. There is no evidence of active exploitation, public exploit code (Metasploit, Nuclei, ExploitDB), or significant community discussion beyond a single Reddit mention.

Impacted Technologies

VendorProductVersion(s)CPE
1CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:debian:postgresql-common:1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
2CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:debian:postgresql-common:2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
3CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:debian:postgresql-common:3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
4CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:debian:postgresql-common:4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
5CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:debian:postgresql-common:5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

CVSS Data

CVSS version used by this source: 3.0

7.8HIGH

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
HIGH
Integrity Impact
HIGH
Availability Impact
HIGH
Exploitability Score
1.8
Impact Score
5.9
CvssVersion
3.0

Exploit Intelligence

EPSS Score
0.42%
Probability of exploitation in next 30 days
EPSS Percentile
34.6%
Percentile rank of EPSS score among Peer Group
As of 2026-07-25
Model: v2026.06.15
This CVE's current EPSS score of 0.0042 is in the 74th percentile among its peer group of 16,994 CVEs.

Social Chatter

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.1 Reddit, 0.2 Bluesky, 0.1 Mastodon, and 0.2 GitHub mentions.

Media Mentions

No media coverage found for this CVE.

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.3 InfoSec Media, 0.0 Vendor Blog, and 0.0 Security Researcher mentions.

Remediation

Vendor Patches (1)

debianvendor investigatingvia nvd_reference
View patch

References

anonscm.debian.org / cgit/pkg-postgresql/postgresql-common.git/commit
Issue TrackingPatchVendor Advisory
lists.debian.org / debian-lts-announce/2017/01/msg00002.html
Issue TrackingVendor Advisory
ubuntu.com / usn/USN-3476-1
Issue TrackingThird Party Advisory
ubuntu.com / usn/USN-3476-2
Issue TrackingThird Party Advisory