Vulnerability Report

CVE-2002-0638

Title: util-linux setpwnam.c race condition local privilege escalation

Privilege escalation

Proof Of Concept

No public PoC currently indexed for CVE-2002-0638.

CWE Category NVD-CWE-noinfo

Published Date Aug 12, 2002

Modified Date Apr 03, 2025

Exploit Status Not Found

Score 6.2 CVSS v2.0

Exploit Probability (EPSS)

0.09%

Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2002-0638: setpwnam.c in the util-linux package, as included in Red Hat Linux 7.3 and earlier, and other operating systems, does not properly lock a temporary file when modifying /etc/passwd, which may allow local users to gain privileges via a complex race condition that uses an open file descriptor in utility programs such as chfn and chsh.

Impacted Vendors

mandrakesoft 1

Reference Links

ftp://ftp.caldera.com/pub/security/OpenLinux/CSSA-2002-043.0.txt http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2002-07/0357.html http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2002-07/0396.html http://distro.conectiva.com.br/atualizacoes/?id=a&anuncio=000523 http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=102795787713996&w=2 http://online.securityfocus.com/advisories/4320 http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2002-132.html http://www.iss.net/security_center/static/9709.php http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/405955 http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/security/2002/MDKSA-2002-047.php http://www.osvdb.org/5164 http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2002-137.html http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/5344 ftp://ftp.caldera.com/pub/security/OpenLinux/CSSA-2002-043.0.txt http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2002-07/0357.html http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2002-07/0396.html http://distro.conectiva.com.br/atualizacoes/?id=a&anuncio=000523 http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=102795787713996&w=2 http://online.securityfocus.com/advisories/4320 http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2002-132.html http://www.iss.net/security_center/static/9709.php http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/405955 http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/security/2002/MDKSA-2002-047.php http://www.osvdb.org/5164 http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2002-137.html http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/5344

CVSS v2.0

Source Entity [email protected]

Severity MEDIUM

6.2

Access Vector

N/A

Authentication

N/A

RAW VECTOR AV:L/AC:H/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Associated Attack Patterns (CAPEC)

Total: Patterns

CVE-2002-0638 Exploits & PoCs (Proof Of Concept)

No public PoCs found in our database for this CVE.

April 03, 2025 MODIFIED

Vulnerability data or affected products updated.

August 12, 2002 PUBLISHED

Vulnerability first announced in NVD.

Attack Vector Matrix

Access Vector N/A

Complexity N/A

Privileges N/A

Interaction NONE

CVSS Vector String


                                    AV:L/AC:H/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Affected Stack

No specific products linked.