# CVE-2011-4125: Privilege escalation in Calibre

> Untrusted search path in Calibre allows unprivileged users to execute arbitrary programs as root, enabling local privilege escalation.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 Oct 2021
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2011-4125, GHSA-m2cr-mfg2-6hxg

## What is CVE-2011-4125?

CVE-2011-4125 is a critical vulnerability in Calibre, published on 27 Oct 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A untrusted search path issue was found in Calibre at devices/linux_mount_helper.c leading to the ability of unprivileged users to execute any program as root.

Weakness: CWE-426 (Untrusted Search Path)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2011-4125?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Calibre-Ebook Calibre.

## How do I fix CVE-2011-4125?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2011-4125 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2011-4125 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Calibre

- [CVE-2011-4124](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-4124/): Command injection in Calibre (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-26064](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-26064/): calibre: Path Traversal Vulnerability Enables Arbitrary File Write and Remote Code Execution (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2026-26065](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-26065/): calibre: Path Traversal can Lead to Arbitrary File Write and Potential Code Execution (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2026-25635](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-25635/): calibre has a Path Traversal Leading to Arbitrary File Write and Potential Code Execution (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2026-33206](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33206/): calibre has a path traversal vulnerability (high 8.2)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2011-4125 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2011-4125 is a critical vulnerability in Calibre, published on 27 Oct 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2011-4125 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Calibre. 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-2011-4125/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-4125/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2011-4125
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2011-4125
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2011-4125

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-4125/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.