CVE-2016-1531
Exim before 4.86.2, when installed setuid root, allows local users to gain privileges via the perl_startup argument.
- 7.0HighCVSS base score
- 6.2%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 6.4% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 4Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
Exim before 4.86.2, when installed setuid root, allows local users to gain privileges via the perl_startup argument.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list a Metasploit module and 3 Exploit-DB entries for it. 3 references of the record are tagged as an exploit.
Show the exploits7
Metasploit modules1 module
- Exim "perl_startup" Privilege Escalation (Metasploit module) (opens in a new tab)
exploit/unix/local/exim_perl_startupRank excellentdisclosed 10 Mar 2016
Exploit-DB3 entries
- Exim - 'perl_startup' Local Privilege Escalation (Metasploit) (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 39702local, linuxpublished 15 Apr 2016Verified
- Exim < 4.86.2 - Local Privilege Escalation (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 39549local, linuxpublished 10 Mar 2016Verified
- Exim 4.84-3 - Local Privilege Escalation (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 39535local, linuxpublished 9 Mar 2016Verified
References tagged exploit3 references
- 39535 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBx_transferred
- 39702 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBx_transferred
- 39549 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBx_transferred
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By certcc
- 3 months later
· 3 months later
Published
- 8 years later
· 8 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.0 | High7.0 | CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 6.2% · top 6.4% of all CVEs (9 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.0.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
10
- DSA-3517 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANx_transferred
- 39535 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBx_transferred
- 1035512 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_SECTRACKx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/136124/Exim-4.84-3-Local-Root-Privilege-Escalation.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- openSUSE-SU-2016:0721 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_SUSEx_transferred
- 39702 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBx_transferred
- USN-2933-1 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUx_transferred
- http://www.exim.org/static/doc/CVE-2016-1531.txt (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- http://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/unix/local/exim_perl_startup (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- 39549 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2016-2626 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2016-1531)Record last updated .