CVE-2016-1255

HIGHNVD 7.87.8
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 7.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: HIGH) published 2022-05-17. NVD baseline CVSS 7.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
7.8
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 0%CVSS: 7.8Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

A fix is available — apply it.

The pg_ctlcluster script in postgresql-common package in Debian wheezy before 134wheezy5, in Debian jessie before 165+deb8u2, in Debian unstable before 178, in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS before 129ubuntu1.2, in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS before 154ubuntu1.1, in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS before 173ubuntu0.1, in Ubuntu 17.04 before 179ubuntu0.1, and in Ubuntu 17.10 before 184ubuntu1.1 allows local users to gain root privileges via a symlink attack on a logfile in /var/log/postgresql.

CVSS v3
7.8
EG Score
7.8(medium)
EPSS
34.0%
KEV
Not listed

Published

December 5, 2017

Last Modified

May 13, 2026

Patch Availability(2)

Vendor / EcosystemFixed in / PatchReleasedSource
ubuntupostgresql-common (129ubuntu1.2) @ precise2026-05-22ubuntu
ubuntupostgresql-common (179ubuntu0.1) @ zesty2026-05-22ubuntu

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.

All Vendor Advisories

(2)

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 8× in last 7d / 38× 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. 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-06 02:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-07-06 02:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-07-05 02:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-07-04 06:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-28 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-27 03:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-27 03:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-22 21:05 UTCOSV refresh
  19. 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 50 more
  1. 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-06-15 17:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-11 13:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-10 22:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-10 13:18 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-08 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-05 11:57 UTCOSV refresh
  19. 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-05-29 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  35. 2026-05-26 07:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-05-24 16:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  37. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-05-22 07:31 UTCEG score recompute
  40. 2026-05-22 07:31 UTCVendor advisory
  41. 2026-05-22 07:31 UTCGHSA enrichment
  42. 2026-05-21 22:40 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  44. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  45. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  46. 2026-05-20 11:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-05-20 11:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  48. 2026-05-20 11:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  49. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  50. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2016-1255?
CVE-2016-1255 is a high vulnerability published on December 5, 2017. The pg_ctlcluster script in postgresql-common package in Debian wheezy before 134wheezy5, in Debian jessie before 165+deb8u2, in Debian unstable before 178, in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS before 129ubuntu1.2, in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS before 154ubuntu1.1, in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS before 173ubuntu0.1, in Ubuntu 17.04…
When was CVE-2016-1255 disclosed?
CVE-2016-1255 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on December 5, 2017, with the most recent update on May 13, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2016-1255 actively exploited?
CVE-2016-1255 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 34.0% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-1255?
CVE-2016-1255 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2016-1255?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2016-1255, 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

Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2016-1255

Explore →

Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2016-1255?

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