CVE-2016-8742

Original summary

Normalized public record · Updated Oct 23, 2026

The Windows installer that the Apache CouchDB team provides was vulnerable to local privilege escalation. All files in the install inherit the file permissions of the parent directory and therefore a non-privileged user can substitute any executable for the nssm.exe service launcher, or CouchDB batch or binary files. A subsequent service or server restart will then run that binary with administrator privilege. This issue affected CouchDB 2.0.0 (Windows platform only) and was addressed in CouchDB 2.0.0.1.

Publisher and source text is retained separately from QFinch interpretation.

Affected products

Matching a version is only one part of assessing exposure. QFinch has not assessed your environment on this public page.

Remediation

Apply the vendor-supported fixed release or mitigation, then verify the affected component is no longer reachable.

1. Confirm the affected product and reachable code path exist in your environment.
2. Apply the vendor-supported patch or mitigation from the primary advisory.
3. Rescan the exact deployed revision and retain verification evidence.

Evidence coverage

SSVC priority

MEDIUM

Confidence

30%

Aliases

None reported

Scores appear only when corresponding evidence exists. Missing data is never interpreted as zero risk.

Sources and record history

1. [couchdb-dev] 20161208 http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/couchdb-dev/201612.mbox/%3C825F65E1-0E5F-4E1F-8053-CF2C6200C526%40apache.org%3E ↗
2. 40865 ↗
3. 94766 ↗

Record history

Published Feb 12, 2018 · Last refreshed Oct 23, 2026