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CVE-2018-10361

An issue was discovered in KTextEditor 5.34.0 through 5.45.0. Insecure handling of temporary...

7.8 HighFix available

An issue was discovered in KTextEditor 5.34.0 through 5.45.0. Insecure handling of temporary files in the KTextEditor's kauth_ktexteditor_helper service (as utilized in the Kate text editor) can allow other unprivileged users on the local system to gain root privileges. The attack occurs when one user (who has an unprivileged account but is also able to authenticate as root) writes a text file using Kate into a directory owned by a another unprivileged user. The latter unprivileged user conducts a symlink attack to achieve privilege escalation.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
Low
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

0.38%Down 0.5 points since Apr 14, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

NVD Score used 7.8

An issue was discovered in KTextEditor 5.34.0 through 5.45.0. Insecure handling of temporary files in the KTextEditor's kauth_ktexteditor_helper service (as utilized in the Kate text editor) can allow other unprivileged users on the local system to gain root privileges. The attack occurs when one user (who has an unprivileged account but is also able to authenticate as root) writes a text file using Kate into a directory owned by a another unprivileged user. The latter unprivileged user conducts a symlink attack to achieve privilege escalation.

Record
CVE-2018-10361
CVSS 3.0
7.8 HighCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.0
7.2 HighAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Weakness
CWE-668
Updated
2026-11-02
CVE List No score

An issue was discovered in KTextEditor 5.34.0 through 5.45.0. Insecure handling of temporary files in the KTextEditor's kauth_ktexteditor_helper service (as utilized in the Kate text editor) can allow other unprivileged users on the local system to gain root privileges. The attack occurs when one user (who has an unprivileged account but is also able to authenticate as root) writes a text file using Kate into a directory owned by a another unprivileged user. The latter unprivileged user conducts a symlink attack to achieve privilege escalation.

Record
CVE-2018-10361
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2018-2435 No score

An issue was discovered in KTextEditor 5.34.0 through 5.45.0. Insecure handling of temporary files in the KTextEditor's kauth_ktexteditor_helper service (as utilized in the Kate text editor) can allow other unprivileged users on the local system to gain root privileges. The attack occurs when one user (who has an unprivileged account but is also able to authenticate as root) writes a text file using Kate into a directory owned by a another unprivileged user. The latter unprivileged user conducts a symlink attack to achieve privilege escalation.

Record
EUVD-2018-2435
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-4w86-wmpg-xc6m 7.8

An issue was discovered in KTextEditor 5.34.0 through 5.45.0. Insecure handling of temporary...

An issue was discovered in KTextEditor 5.34.0 through 5.45.0. Insecure handling of temporary files in the KTextEditor's kauth_ktexteditor_helper service (as utilized in the Kate text editor) can allow other unprivileged users on the local system to gain root privileges. The attack occurs when one user (who has an unprivileged account but is also able to authenticate as root) writes a text file using Kate into a directory owned by a another unprivileged user. The latter unprivileged user conducts a symlink attack to achieve privilege escalation.

Record
GHSA-4w86-wmpg-xc6m
CVSS 3.0
7.8 HighCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-668
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 7.8

An issue was discovered in KTextEditor 5.34.0 through 5.45.0. Insecure handling of temporary files in the KTextEditor's kauth_ktexteditor_helper service (as utilized in the Kate text editor) can allow other unprivileged users on the local system to gain root privileges. The attack occurs when one user (who has an unprivileged account but is also able to authenticate as root) writes a text file using Kate into a directory owned by a another unprivileged user. The latter unprivileged user conducts a symlink attack to achieve privilege escalation.

Record
CVE-2018-10361
CVSS 3.0
7.8 HighCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2018-10361 7.8

An issue was discovered in KTextEditor 5.34.0 through 5.45.0. Insecure handling of temporary files in the KTextEditor's kauth_ktexteditor_helper service (as utilized in the Kate text editor) can allow other unprivileged users on the local system to gain root privileges. The attack occurs when one user (who has an unprivileged account but is also able to authenticate as root) writes a text file using Kate into a directory owned by a another unprivileged user. The latter unprivileged user conducts a symlink attack to achieve privilege escalation.

Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2018-10361
CVSS 3.0
7.8 HighCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2018-10361 7.8

An issue was discovered in KTextEditor 5.34.0 through 5.45.0. Insecure handling of temporary files in the KTextEditor's kauth_ktexteditor_helper service (as utilized in the Kate text editor) can allow other unprivileged users on the local system to gain root privileges. The attack occurs when one user (who has an unprivileged account but is also able to authenticate as root) writes a text file using Kate into a directory owned by a another unprivileged user. The latter unprivileged user conducts a symlink attack to achieve privilege escalation.

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2018-10361
CVSS 3.0
7.8 HighCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:10900-1 No score

ktexteditor-5.86.0-1.3 on GA media

These are all security issues fixed in the ktexteditor-5.86.0-1.3 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.

Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:10900-1
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
ktexteditor
Debian:12
before 5.47.0-1
5.47.0-1
ktexteditor
Debian:13
before 5.47.0-1
5.47.0-1
ktexteditor
Debian:14
before 5.47.0-1
5.47.0-1
ktexteditor
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
5.38.0-0ubuntu15.38.0-0ubuntu1.15.38.0-0ubuntu25.40.0-0ubuntu15.41.0-0ubuntu2
Show 4 moreShow less
5.42.0-0ubuntu15.43.0-0ubuntu25.44.0-0ubuntu15.44.0-0ubuntu2
None known
ktexteditor
openSUSE:Tumbleweed
before 5.86.0-1.3
5.86.0-1.3

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
aliasesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2018-10361 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.8) in Kde Ktexteditor, published April 25, 2018. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.38%, the 32nd percentile. Fixed in ktexteditor 5.47.0-1.

References

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