Vulnerability in Suse Linux Enterprise

CVE-2018-16588

Privilege escalation can occur in the SUSE useradd.c code in useradd, as distributed in the SUSE shadow package through 4.2.1-27.9.1 for SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 (SLE-12) and through 4.5-5.39 for SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 (SLE-15). Non-existing intermediate directories are created with mode 0777 during user creation. Given that they are world-writable, local attackers might use this for privilege escalation and other unspecified attacks. NOTE: this would affect non-SUSE users who took useradd.c code from a 2014-04-02 upstream pull request; however, no non-SUSE distribution is known to be affected.

EPSS: 0.003 (22.3th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

  • cve@mitre.org (vendor-advisory, x_refsource_SUSE, Vendor Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2018-16588?
CVE-2018-16588 is a high-severity vulnerability in Suse Linux Enterprise, classified under Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2018-09-26.
How severe is CVE-2018-16588?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2018-16588 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.