# CVE-2015-1336: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers with man account access can escalate privileges due to insecure chown usage in the daily cleanup job.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** 27 Sep 2017
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2015-1336, GHSA-v8g2-q7cg-qvg6, UBUNTU-CVE-2015-1336, USN-5334-1

## What is CVE-2015-1336?

CVE-2015-1336 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 27 Sep 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The daily mandb cleanup job in Man-db before 2.7.6.1-1 as packaged in Ubuntu and Debian allows local users with access to the man account to gain privileges via vectors involving insecure chown use.

Weakness: CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-1336?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Man-Db Project Man-Db.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-1336?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2015-1336 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2015-1336 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Man-db 2.6.7.1 - Local Privilege Escalation (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2018-25078](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-25078/): Privilege escalation in n/a (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-1336 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-1336 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 27 Sep 2017. 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-2015-1336 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-2015-1336/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-1336/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-1336
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-1336
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-1336

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-1336/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.