# CVE-2011-0536: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can gain privileges by placing a malicious shared object in the current directory when executing setuid programs with specific RPATH settings.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.9 (`AV:L/AC:M/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:** 8 Apr 2011
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-3hm4-67xr-p92g

## What is CVE-2011-0536?

CVE-2011-0536 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Gnu Glibc, published on 8 Apr 2011. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Multiple untrusted search path vulnerabilities in elf/dl-object.c in certain modified versions of the GNU C Library (aka glibc or libc6), including glibc-2.5-49.el5_5.6 and glibc-2.12-1.7.el6_0.3 in Red Hat Enterprise Linux, allow local users to gain privileges via a crafted dynamic shared object (DSO) in a subdirectory of the current working directory during execution of a (1) setuid or (2) setgid program that has $ORIGIN in (a) RPATH or (b) RUNPATH within the program itself or a referenced library. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incorrect fix for CVE-2010-3847.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2011-0536?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Gnu Glibc, Redhat Enterprise Linux.

## How do I fix CVE-2011-0536?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2011-0536 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2011-0536 exists.

Public exploit code:

- GNU C library dynamic linker - '$ORIGIN' Expansion (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-2011-0536 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2011-0536 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Gnu Glibc, published on 8 Apr 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-2011-0536 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-2011-0536/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-0536/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2011-0536
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2011-0536
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2011-0536

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-0536/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.