CVE-2006-5178

MEDIUMCVSS v2 · 6.26.2—
EchelonGraph scoreLOW confidence

This CVE was only ever scored under CVSS v2.0. NVD CVSS v2.0 base 6.2 — v2 rates that MEDIUM (v2 bands: LOW 0.0–3.9 / MEDIUM 4.0–6.9 / HIGH 7.0–10.0; v2 has no CRITICAL band). Vector AV:L/AC:H/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C. CVSS v2 is an older, coarser metric than v3.1/v4.0 (no Scope, no User Interaction, no Attack Requirements), so it is not directly comparable to a v3 or v4 score. NVD has never re-scored this record under v3. EPSS predicts 0.7% exploitation probability in the next 30 days, which is reflected in EG Risk but does not lift the v2 base. Confidence: LOW.

Sources: epss, nvd_v2
Weaponized
6.2EG
EchelonGraph verdictMonitorLow exploitation likelihood right now — keep watching.
  • Lower severity and no public exploit yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 1%CVSS v2: 6.2Exploit: Exploit-DB (verified) · public exploitExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

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.

CVSS v2.0 (legacy)
6.2MEDIUMNVD never assigned a CVSS v3 rating to this CVE
EG Score
6.2(low)
EG Risk
58(Track)
EG Risk 58/100SSVC: Track

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity62% × 45%
Exploitation65% × 40%
Automatability30% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS PROB
1%
EPSS %ILE
49%
KEV
Not listed

Published

October 10, 2006

Last Modified

April 23, 2026

References (30)

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 10× in last 7d / 31× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-07-26 13:30 UTCEG score recompute▲ 6.20
  2. 2026-07-25 14:11 UTCEPSS rescore
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  4. 2026-07-23 00:51 UTCEG score recompute
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  45. 2026-05-31 06:27 UTCEG score recompute
  46. 2026-05-31 06:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
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Publicly available exploits

(1 reference)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Exploit-DB entry). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • Exploit-DBEDB-10557✓ verified
    First seen Dec 19, 2009

    PHP 5.2.12/5.3.1 - 'symlink()' open_basedir Bypass

    Open source ↗

Related CVEs(same CWE)

Frequently asked(4)

What is CVE-2006-5178?
CVE-2006-5178 is a medium vulnerability published on October 10, 2006. Race condition in the symlink function in PHP 5.1.6 and earlier allows local users to bypass the openbasedir restriction by using a combination of symlink, mkdir, and unlink functions to change the file path after the openbasedir check and before the file is opened by the underlying system, as…
When was CVE-2006-5178 disclosed?
CVE-2006-5178 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on October 10, 2006, with the most recent update on April 23, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2006-5178 actively exploited?
CVE-2006-5178 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 51.4% of all scored CVEs.
How do I remediate CVE-2006-5178?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2006-5178, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

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