CVE-2014-4996

MEDIUMNVD 5.55.5—

5.5

lib/vlad/dba/mysql.rb in the VladTheEnterprising gem 0.2 for Ruby allows local users to write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack on /tmp/my.cnf.#{target_host}.

CVSS v3: 5.5
EG Score: 5.5(medium)
EPSS: 18.5%
KEV: Not listed

Published

January 10, 2018

Last Modified

November 21, 2024

References (10)

cve@mitrehttp://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/07/07/14
cve@mitrehttp://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/07/17/5
cve@mitrehttp://www.securityfocus.com/bid/68731
cve@mitrehttp://www.vapid.dhs.org/advisories/VladTheEnterprising-0.2.html
cve@mitrehttps://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/94744
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/07/07/14
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/07/17/5
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/68731
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://www.vapid.dhs.org/advisories/VladTheEnterprising-0.2.html
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/94744

Patch Availability(1)

Vendor / Ecosystem	Fixed in / Patch	Released	Source
rubygems	VladTheEnterprising	—	ghsa

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
VladTheEnterprising	0.1.4 ... 0.2 (6 versions)	—	—

Weakness Classification(1)

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

CWE-59Improper Link Resolution Before File Access (Link Following)

Data Freshness Timeline

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

Every time one of our enrichment pipelines (NVD, MITRE cvelistV5, EPSS, CISA KEV, GHSA, OSV, vendor advisories) ran against this CVE. Most recent first.

2026-05-27 13:38 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-27 13:38 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-26 13:41 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-26 07:16 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-24 16:43 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-23 02:07 UTCEG score recompute
2026-05-23 02:07 UTCGHSA enrichment

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2014-4996?

CVE-2014-4996 is a medium vulnerability published on January 10, 2018. lib/vlad/dba/mysql.rb in the VladTheEnterprising gem 0.2 for Ruby allows local users to write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack on /tmp/my.cnf.#{target_host}.

When was CVE-2014-4996 disclosed?

CVE-2014-4996 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on January 10, 2018, with the most recent update on November 21, 2024. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.

Is CVE-2014-4996 actively exploited?

CVE-2014-4996 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 18.5% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2014-4996?

CVE-2014-4996 has a CVSS v3 base score of 5.5 (NVD).

How do I remediate CVE-2014-4996?

Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2014-4996, 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.

Dependency Blast Radius

See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2014-4996

Explore →

Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2014-4996?

EchelonGraph automatically scans your cloud infrastructure and maps CVE exposure using blast radius analysis.

Start Free Scan →Browse All CVEs