# CVE-2017-15566: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Attackers can escalate privileges to root via insecure environment variable handling in Slurm during Prolog or Epilog execution.

- **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:** 1 Nov 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DSA-4023-1, GHSA-h3p2-v728-89g5, SUSE-SU-2017:3311-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2017-15566

## What is CVE-2017-15566?

CVE-2017-15566 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 1 Nov 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Insecure SPANK environment variable handling exists in SchedMD Slurm before 16.05.11, 17.x before 17.02.9, and 17.11.x before 17.11.0rc2, allowing privilege escalation to root during Prolog or Epilog execution.

Weakness: CWE-426 (Untrusted Search Path)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-15566?

It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `pdsh` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for HPC 12 | All versions | 2.33-7.5.17 |
| `slurm` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for HPC 12 | All versions | 17.02.9-6.10.1 |
| `slurmlibs` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for HPC 12 | All versions | 16.05.8.1-6.1 |

Products: Schedmd Slurm.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-15566?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2017-15566 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-15566 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2023-49934](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-49934/): SQL injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-49937](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-49937/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-49935](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-49935/): Auth bypass in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2023-49938](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-49938/): Privilege escalation in n/a (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2016-10030](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-10030/): Path traversal in n/a (high 8.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-15566 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-15566 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 1 Nov 2017. 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-2017-15566 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-2017-15566/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15566/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-15566
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-15566
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-15566

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15566/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.