Privilege escalation in Debian Linux
CVE-2017-20002
The Debian shadow package before 1:4.5-1 for Shadow incorrectly lists pts/0 and pts/1 as physical terminals in /etc/securetty. This allows local users to login as password-less users even if they are connected by non-physical means such as SSH (hence bypassing PAM's nullok_secure configuration). This notably affects environments such as virtual machines automatically generated with a default blank root password, allowing all local users to escalate privileges.
Vulnerability class: Privilege Escalation
EPSS: 0.004 (33.7th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Affected products
- Debian Debian_linux — versions 9.0
- Debian Shadow — versions 4.4
- N/a — versions n/a
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- cve@mitre.org (Mailing List, x_refsource_MISC, Vendor Advisory)
- cve@mitre.org (Exploit, Mailing List, x_refsource_MISC, Vendor Advisory)
- cve@mitre.org (Vendor Advisory, mailing-list, x_refsource_MLIST, Mailing List)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2017-20002?
- CVE-2017-20002 is a high-severity vulnerability in Debian Linux, classified under Improper Privilege Management. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2021-03-17.
- How severe is CVE-2017-20002?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.