# CVE-2007-5191: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Attackers can gain elevated privileges by exploiting incorrect setuid/setgid calls in mount and umount utilities.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **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:** 4 Oct 2007
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2007-5191, DSA-1449-1, DSA-1450-1, DTSA-64-1, DTSA-70-1, GHSA-x6mx-7fcg-2j6w, RHSA-2007:0969

## What is CVE-2007-5191?

CVE-2007-5191 is a high-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 4 Oct 2007. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

mount and umount in util-linux and loop-aes-utils call the setuid and setgid functions in the wrong order and do not check the return values, which might allow attackers to gain privileges via helpers such as mount.nfs.

Weakness: CWE-252 (Unchecked Return Value)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2007-5191?

It affects 5 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `losetup` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 0:2.11y-31.24 |
| `mount` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 0:2.11y-31.24 |
| `util-linux` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 0:2.11y-31.24 |
| `util-linux-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 0:2.11y-31.24 |
| `losetup` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 0:2.11y-31.24 |
| `mount` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 0:2.11y-31.24 |
| `util-linux` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 0:2.11y-31.24 |
| `util-linux-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 0:2.11y-31.24 |
| `losetup` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 0:2.11y-31.24 |
| `mount` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 0:2.11y-31.24 |
| `util-linux` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 0:2.11y-31.24 |
| `util-linux-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 0:2.11y-31.24 |
| `losetup` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 0:2.11y-31.24 |
| `mount` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 0:2.11y-31.24 |
| `util-linux` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 0:2.11y-31.24 |
| `util-linux-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 0:2.11y-31.24 |
| `util-linux` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::as | All versions | 0:2.12a-17.el4_6.1 |
| `util-linux-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::as | All versions | 0:2.12a-17.el4_6.1 |
| `util-linux` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::desktop | All versions | 0:2.12a-17.el4_6.1 |
| `util-linux-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::desktop | All versions | 0:2.12a-17.el4_6.1 |
| `util-linux` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::es | All versions | 0:2.12a-17.el4_6.1 |
| `util-linux-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::es | All versions | 0:2.12a-17.el4_6.1 |
| `util-linux` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::ws | All versions | 0:2.12a-17.el4_6.1 |
| `util-linux-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::ws | All versions | 0:2.12a-17.el4_6.1 |
| `util-linux` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.13-0.45.el5_1.1 |
| `util-linux-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.13-0.45.el5_1.1 |
| `util-linux` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.13-0.45.el5_1.1 |
| `util-linux-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.13-0.45.el5_1.1 |

Products: Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora, Kernel Util-Linux, Loop-Aes-Utils Project Loop-Aes-Utils.

## How do I fix CVE-2007-5191?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2007-5191 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2007-5191 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux

- [CVE-2020-11651](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11651/): SaltStack Salt Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-7247](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7247/): OpenSMTPD Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-16928](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16928/): Exim Out-of-bounds Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-6789](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6789/): Exim Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2015-2590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2590/): Oracle Java SE and Java SE Embedded Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2007-5191 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2007-5191 is a high-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 4 Oct 2007. 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-2007-5191 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Canonical Ubuntu 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-2007-5191/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-5191/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2007-5191
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2007-5191
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2007-5191

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-5191/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
