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Vulnerability Intelligence Report
Local privilege escalation through system temporary directory

CVE-2021-29428

In Gradle before version 7.0, on Unix-like systems, the system temporary directory can be created with open permissions that allow multiple users to create and delete files within it. Gradle builds could be vulnerable to a local privilege escalation from an attacker quickly deleting and recreating files in the system temporary directory. This vulnerability impacted builds using precompiled script plugins written in Kotlin DSL and tests for Gradle plugins written using ProjectBuilder or TestKit. If you are on Windows or modern versions of macOS, you are not vulnerable. If you are on a Unix-like operating system with the "sticky" bit set on your system temporary directory, you are not vulnerable. The problem has been patched and released with Gradle 7.0. As a workaround, on Unix-like operating systems, ensure that the "sticky" bit is set. This only allows the original user (or root) to delete a file. If you are unable to change the permissions of the system temporary directory, you can move the Java temporary directory by setting the System Property `java.io.tmpdir`. The new path needs to limit permissions to the build user only. For additional details refer to the referenced GitHub Security Advisory.

No Active Exploit Signals
CVSS Base Score
8.8
HIGH
Exploitability:2.1
Impact Score:6.1
EPSS Probability:0.54%
Executive Threat Verdict
Evaluating...
Evaluating Threat Landscape...
Assessing known weaponization, exploitation telemetry, and federal advisories.
Attack Surface
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Authentication
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Weaponization
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SSVC Action
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Weaknesses (CWE)

CWE-379 ↗CWE-379 Creation of Temporary File in Directory with Incorrect Permissions
CWE-378 ↗CWE-378: Creation of Temporary File With Insecure Permissions

Affected Products & Versions

Vendor Product Affected Versions
gradle gradle < 7.0 (affected)

References & Technical Advisories

No reference links found.

Threat Intelligence Signals

EPSS Score
0.542%

Identity & Timeline

StatusPUBLISHED
Assigning AuthorityGitHub, Inc. · Vendor · USA
Reserved2021-03-30T00:00:00
Published2021-04-13T17:55:18
Last Updated2026-10-08T21:24:19

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