CVE-2021-29428

Local privilege escalation through system temporary directory

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: April 13, 2021 at 05:55 PM UTC
Updated: October 8, 2026 at 10:17 PM UTC
2 products affected across 2 vendorsQuarkusGradle

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Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.5%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

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.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 7.0*
Affected range stops below 7.0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
v ≤ 2.2.3*

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

References (4)

x_refsource_MISCPatchThird Party Advisory
https://github.com/gradle/gradle/pull/15240
x_refsource_MISCPatchThird Party Advisory
https://github.com/gradle/gradle/pull/15654

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-378CWE-379

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