Auth bypass in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

CVE-2025-6018

A Local Privilege Escalation (LPE) vulnerability has been discovered in pam-config within Linux Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM). This flaw allows an unprivileged local attacker (for example, a user logged in via SSH) to obtain the elevated privileges normally reserved for a physically present, "allow_active" user. The highest risk is that the attacker can then perform all allow_active yes Polkit actions, which are typically restricted to console users, potentially gaining unauthorized control over system configurations, services, or other sensitive operations.

Vulnerability class: Broken Access Control

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 (63.0th percentile), scored .

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 63rd percentile — 63.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2025-6018: held from 0.010 to 0.011.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.010 · newest: 0.011 · change: +0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-6018?
CVE-2025-6018 is a high-severity vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, classified under Incorrect Authorization. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2025-07-23.
How severe is CVE-2025-6018?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2025-6018 known to be exploited?
29 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.