tau 2.16.4 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a (1) /tmp/makefile.tau.*.##### or (2) /tmp/makefile.tau*.##### temporary file, related to the (a) tau_cxx, (b) tau_f90, and (c) tau_cc scripts.

tauex in Tuning and Analysis Utilities (TAU) 2.16.4 places a zero-length directory name in the LD_LIBRARY_PATH, which allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse shared library in the current working directory.