# CVE-2015-3159: Privilege escalation in ABRT

> Local attackers can exploit improper environment handling in ABRT to gain elevated privileges on Red Hat systems.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/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:** 14 Jan 2020
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-77rf-6vjp-rjg6

## What is CVE-2015-3159?

CVE-2015-3159 is a high-severity vulnerability in ABRT, published on 14 Jan 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The abrt-action-install-debuginfo-to-abrt-cache help program in Automatic Bug Reporting Tool (ABRT) does not properly handle the process environment before invoking abrt-action-install-debuginfo, which allows local users to gain privileges.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-3159?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Redhat Automatic Bug Reporting Tool.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-3159?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2015-3159 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-3159 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in ABRT

- [CVE-2015-1869](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-1869/): Path traversal in ABRT (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2015-3151](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3151/): Path traversal in ABRT (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2015-3315](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3315/): Path traversal in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2015-3150](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3150/): Path traversal in ABRT (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2015-1862](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-1862/): Race condition in n/a (high 7.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-3159 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-3159 is a high-severity vulnerability in ABRT, published on 14 Jan 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-3159 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: ABRT. 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-2015-3159/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3159/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-3159
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-3159
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-3159

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3159/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.