# CVE-2015-3255: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can gain privileges by exploiting duplicate action IDs in PolicyKit action descriptions, affecting Linux systems using polkit.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.6 (`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **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:** 26 Oct 2015
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2015-3255, GHSA-3hwj-36x6-3356, UBUNTU-CVE-2015-3255

## What is CVE-2015-3255?

CVE-2015-3255 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 26 Oct 2015. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The polkit_backend_action_pool_init function in polkitbackend/polkitbackendactionpool.c in PolicyKit (aka polkit) before 0.113 might allow local users to gain privileges via duplicate action IDs in action descriptions.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-3255?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Polkit Project Polkit.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-3255?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2015-3255 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-3255 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2015-3218](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3218/): Null dereference in n/a (low 2.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-3255 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-3255 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 26 Oct 2015. 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-2015-3255 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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-2015-3255/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3255/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-3255
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-3255
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-3255

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3255/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.