Privilege escalation in Systemd Project
CVE-2023-26604
systemd before 247 does not adequately block local privilege escalation for some Sudo configurations, e.g., plausible sudoers files in which the "systemctl status" command may be executed. Specifically, systemd does not set LESSSECURE to 1, and thus other programs may be launched from the less program. This presents a substantial security risk when running systemctl from Sudo, because less executes as root when the terminal size is too small to show the complete systemctl output.
Vulnerability class: Privilege Escalation
Published · last modified .
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.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.011 (63.7th percentile), scored .
Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 64th percentile — 63.7% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.011 · newest: 0.011 · change: 0.000
Affected products
- Systemd Project
- Debian Linux — versions 10.0
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- medium.com/@zenmoviefornotification/saidov-maxim-cve-2023-26604-c1232a526ba7 (Third Party Advisory)
- github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/NEWS (Release Notes)
- blog.compass-security.com/2012/10/dangerous-sudoers-entries-part-2-insecure-fun… (Exploit, Third Party Advisory)
- lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/03/msg00032.html (mailing-list, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
- security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230505-0009/ (Third Party Advisory)
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/174130/systemd-246-Local-Root-Privilege-Escalatio… (Exploit, Third Party Advisory)
- 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2023-26604?
- CVE-2023-26604 is a high-severity vulnerability in Systemd Project, classified under Improper Privilege Management. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2023-03-03.
- How severe is CVE-2023-26604?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2023-26604 known to be exploited?
- 21 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.