A race condition in the nginx module in Phusion Passenger 3.x through 5.x before 5.3.2 allows local escalation of privileges when a non-standard passenger_instance_registry_dir with insufficiently strict permissions is configured. Replacing a file with a symlink after the file was created, but before it was chowned, leads to the target of the link being chowned via the path. Targeting sensitive files such as root's crontab file allows privilege escalation.
CVE-2018-12029
This high-severity CVE scores 7.0 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 0.3%, top 80% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).
- High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
A fix is available — apply it.
- CVSS v3
- 7.0
- EG Score
- 7.0(medium)
- EG Risk
- 36(Track)EG Risk 36/100SSVC: 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 computedSeverity70% × 45%Exploitation0% × 40%Automatability30% × 15%Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence. - EPSS PROB
- 0%
- EPSS %ILE
- 20%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
June 17, 2018
Last Modified
November 21, 2024
References (8)
- cve@mitrehttps://blog.phusion.nl/passenger-5-3-2
- cve@mitrehttps://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/06/msg00007.html
- cve@mitrehttps://pulsesecurity.co.nz/advisories/phusion-passenger-priv-esc
- cve@mitrehttps://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201807-02
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://blog.phusion.nl/passenger-5-3-2
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/06/msg00007.html
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://pulsesecurity.co.nz/advisories/phusion-passenger-priv-esc
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201807-02
Patch Availability(1)
| Vendor / Ecosystem | Fixed in / Patch | Released | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ubuntu | libapache2-mod-passenger (5.0.27-2ubuntu0.1~esm1) @ xenial | 2026-05-28 | ubuntu |
Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.
Affected Packages
(1 across 1 ecosystem)
RubyGems(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| passenger | 3.0.0 ... 5.3.1 (130 versions) | 5.3.2 | — |
Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
All Vendor Advisories
(1)
Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 12× in last 7d / 41× 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.
- 2026-07-26 14:51 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-07-23 01:32 UTCEG score recompute
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- 2026-07-22 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-07-21 10:48 UTCOSV refresh
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- 2026-07-07 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-07-04 06:26 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-07-02 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-15 18:09 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-15 17:45 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-05-29 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 06:32 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-28 06:32 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-05-28 05:03 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
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Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2018-12029?
When was CVE-2018-12029 disclosed?
Is CVE-2018-12029 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2018-12029?
How do I remediate CVE-2018-12029?
Dependency Blast Radius
See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2018-12029
Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2018-12029?
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