Vulnerability in w3m (CVE-2018-6198)

Summary

Vulnerability in w3m (CVE-2018-6198). Data can be tampered with by attackers.

Original description

The description as published by the source.

w3m through 0.5.3 does not properly handle temporary files when the ~/.w3m directory is unwritable, which allows a local attacker to craft a symlink attack to overwrite arbitrary files.

Source: OSV.dev (Open Source Vulnerabilities) NVD OSV

Auto-generated summary

Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.

A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2018-6198 has been found in w3m.
Data can be tampered with by attackers.
What to do: apply the vendor's official patched release.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "w3m CVE-2018-6198" on the vendor's site.

CVE-2018-6198 (w3m)
Attack vector: local / no user interaction
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.

❓ What is the problem

A vulnerability (unclassified) exists in w3m.

📍 Affected scope

Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of w3m.

🔥 Severity

Severity: ?. Data can be tampered with by attackers.

🔧 How to fix

Update to the patched release per vendor advisory.

🛡️ Workaround

Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.

🔍 Detection

Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'w3m' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.

Response actions

Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order

1
Identify exposure identify
```
grep -r 'w3m' . | grep -v node_modules
```
リポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で w3m を grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。
2
Post-deployment verification verify
```
Confirm patched version is live in production
```
パッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。

Fix status by distribution

Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE

Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2018-6198 w3m Fixed in: 0.5.3-36