# CVE-2010-3856: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can gain privileges by exploiting improper LD_AUDIT restrictions in the GNU C Library via unsafe dynamic shared objects.

- **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:** 7 Jan 2011
- **Updated:** 13 Feb 2025
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2010-3856, GHSA-87g4-5jq4-wvr2, RHSA-2010:0793

## What is CVE-2010-3856?

CVE-2010-3856 is a high-severity vulnerability in Gnu Glibc, published on 7 Jan 2011. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

ld.so in the GNU C Library (aka glibc or libc6) before 2.11.3, and 2.12.x before 2.12.2, does not properly restrict use of the LD_AUDIT environment variable to reference dynamic shared objects (DSOs) as audit objects, which allows local users to gain privileges by leveraging an unsafe DSO located in a trusted library directory, as demonstrated by libpcprofile.so.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2010-3856?

It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `glibc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.5-49.el5_5.7 |
| `glibc-common` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.5-49.el5_5.7 |
| `glibc-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.5-49.el5_5.7 |
| `glibc-debuginfo-common` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.5-49.el5_5.7 |
| `glibc-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.5-49.el5_5.7 |
| `glibc-headers` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.5-49.el5_5.7 |
| `glibc-utils` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.5-49.el5_5.7 |
| `nscd` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.5-49.el5_5.7 |
| `glibc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.5-49.el5_5.7 |
| `glibc-common` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.5-49.el5_5.7 |
| `glibc-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.5-49.el5_5.7 |
| `glibc-debuginfo-common` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.5-49.el5_5.7 |
| `glibc-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.5-49.el5_5.7 |
| `glibc-headers` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.5-49.el5_5.7 |
| `glibc-utils` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.5-49.el5_5.7 |
| `nscd` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.5-49.el5_5.7 |

Products: Gnu Glibc.

## How do I fix CVE-2010-3856?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2010-3856 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2010-3856 exists.

Public exploit code:

- glibc LD_AUDIT Arbitrary DSO Load Privilege Escalation (metasploit)
- GNU C Library 2.x (libc6) - Dynamic Linker LD_AUDIT Arbitrary DSO Load Privilege Escalation (exploitdb)
- glibc - 'LD_AUDIT' Arbitrary DSO Load Privilege Escalation (exploitdb)
- glibc - 'LD_AUDIT' Arbitrary DSO Load Privilege Escalation (Metasploit) (exploitdb)
- glibc - 'LD_AUDIT' Arbitrary DSO Load Privilege Escalation (Metasploit) (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Gnu Glibc

- [CVE-2026-5450](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-5450/): scanf %mc off-by-one heap buffer overflow (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-25139](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-25139/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-1999-0199](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-1999-0199/): Other in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-1010022](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-1010022/): Security feature bypass in glibc (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2005-3590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-3590/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2010-3856 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2010-3856 is a high-severity vulnerability in Gnu Glibc, published on 7 Jan 2011. 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-2010-3856 exists.

Affected product: Gnu Glibc. 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-2010-3856/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-3856/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2010-3856
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2010-3856
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2010-3856

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-3856/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.