# CVE-2003-0645: Privilege escalation in n/a

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

- **Severity:** Medium 4.6 (`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 14 Aug 2003
- **Updated:** 8 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2003-0645, GHSA-36x9-82rm-pg8f

## 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: 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:

- man-db 2.4.1 - 'open_cat_stream()' Local uid=man (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2003-0124](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-0124/): Command injection in n/a (medium 4.6)
- [CVE-2003-0620](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-0620/): Memory corruption in n/a (medium 4.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2003-0645 and fix it if it is affected.

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

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-0645/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-0645/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2003-0645
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2003-0645
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2003-0645

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-0645/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.