# CVE-2014-2533: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can escalate privileges in QNX Neutrino RTOS by exploiting the ifwatchd daemon's handling of command-line arguments.

- **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:** 18 Mar 2014
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6mpg-v9p2-xw8m

## What is CVE-2014-2533?

CVE-2014-2533 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 18 Mar 2014. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

/sbin/ifwatchd in BlackBerry QNX Neutrino RTOS 6.4.x and 6.5.x allows local users to gain privileges by providing an arbitrary program name as a command-line argument.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2014-2533?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Blackberry Qnx Neutrino Rtos.

## How do I fix CVE-2014-2533?

No fix has been published for CVE-2014-2533 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2014-2533 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2014-2533 exists.

Public exploit code:

- QNX 6.4.x/6.5.x ifwatchd - Local Privilege Escalation (exploitdb)
- ifwatchd Privilege Escalation (metasploit)
- ifwatchd - Privilege Escalation (Metasploit) (exploitdb)
- ifwatchd - Privilege Escalation (Metasploit) (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2013-2688](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2688/): Memory corruption in n/a (medium 5.4)
- [CVE-2014-2534](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-2534/): Information disclosure in n/a (medium 4.9)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2014-2533 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2014-2533 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 18 Mar 2014. 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-2014-2533 exists.

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-2014-2533/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-2533/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-2533
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-2533
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2014-2533

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-2533/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.