# CVE-2005-0503: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can gain privileges by exploiting trusted environment variables in setuid/setgid applications using the uim library.

- **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:** 21 Feb 2005
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2005-0503, GHSA-p5v6-j4pp-pf2r

## What is CVE-2005-0503?

CVE-2005-0503 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Mandrakesoft Mandrake Linux, published on 21 Feb 2005. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

uim before 0.4.5.1 trusts certain environment variables when libUIM is used in setuid or setgid applications, which allows local users to gain privileges.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2005-0503?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Mandrakesoft Mandrake Linux, Uim Uim.

## How do I fix CVE-2005-0503?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2005-0503 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2005-0503 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Mandrakesoft Mandrake Linux

- [CVE-2004-1187](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-1187/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-1188](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-1188/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2003-0041](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-0041/): Command injection in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2000-1042](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2000-1042/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2000-1043](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2000-1043/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2005-0503 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2005-0503 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Mandrakesoft Mandrake Linux, published on 21 Feb 2005. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2005-0503 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Mandrakesoft Mandrake Linux. 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-2005-0503/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-0503/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2005-0503
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2005-0503
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2005-0503

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-0503/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.