CVE-2018-16588

Description

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.

Category

7.8
CVSS
Severity: High
CVSS 3.0 •
CVSS 2.0 •
EPSS 0.04%
Vendor Advisory opensuse.org
Affected: n/a n/a
Published at:
Updated at:

References

Link Tags
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2018-09/msg00073.html vendor advisory

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the severity of CVE-2018-16588?
CVE-2018-16588 has been scored as a high severity vulnerability.
How to fix CVE-2018-16588?
To fix CVE-2018-16588, make sure you are using an up-to-date version of the affected component(s) by checking the vendor release notes. As for now, there are no other specific guidelines available.
Is CVE-2018-16588 being actively exploited in the wild?
As for now, there are no information to confirm that CVE-2018-16588 is being actively exploited. According to its EPSS score, there is a ~0% probability that this vulnerability will be exploited by malicious actors in the next 30 days.
This platform uses data from the NIST NVD, MITRE CVE, MITRE CWE, First.org and CISA KEV but is not endorsed or certified by these entities. CVE is a registred trademark of the MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CVE content is MITRE's CVE web site. CWE is a registred trademark of the MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CWE content is MITRE's CWE web site.
© 2025 Under My Watch. All Rights Reserved.