CVE-2003-0645 Privilege escalation in n/a

Medium 4.6 Published 14 Aug 2003 Updated 8 Aug 2024

Local attackers can exploit user-controlled manpath directives in setuid man-db to escalate privileges on Linux systems.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Any signed-in user
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2003-0645?

CVE-2003-0645 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 14 Aug 2003. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

man-db 2.3.12 and 2.3.18 to 2.4.1 uses certain user-controlled DEFINE directives from the ~/.manpath file, even when running setuid, which could allow local users to gain privileges.

Which versions are affected by CVE-2003-0645?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Andries Brouwer Man.

How do I fix CVE-2003-0645?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Is CVE-2003-0645 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2003-0645 exists.

Public exploit code: 1 Exploit-DB entry.

Sources

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2003-0645, GHSA-36x9-82rm-pg8f.