# CVE-2010-2198: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can gain privileges or bypass access restrictions by exploiting improper metadata reset during RPM package upgrades or removals.

- **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:** No
- **Published:** 8 Jun 2010
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2010-2198, ECHO-96ed-6e2a-ba42, GHSA-fw46-vp2w-pvxq

## What is CVE-2010-2198?

CVE-2010-2198 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 8 Jun 2010. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

lib/fsm.c in RPM 4.8.0 and earlier does not properly reset the metadata of an executable file during replacement of the file in an RPM package upgrade or deletion of the file in an RPM package removal, which might allow local users to gain privileges or bypass intended access restrictions by creating a hard link to a vulnerable file that has (1) POSIX file capabilities or (2) SELinux context information, a related issue to CVE-2010-2059.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2010-2198?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Rpm Rpm.

## How do I fix CVE-2010-2198?

No fix has been published for CVE-2010-2198 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2010-2198 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2010-2198 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2014-8118](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-8118/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2011-3378](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-3378/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2017-7501](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-7501/): Path traversal in rpm (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2017-7500](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-7500/): Path traversal in rpm (high 7.3)
- [CVE-2005-4889](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-4889/): Race condition in n/a (high 7.2)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2010-2198 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2010-2198 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 8 Jun 2010. 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-2010-2198 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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-2010-2198/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-2198/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2010-2198
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2010-2198
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2010-2198

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-2198/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.