CVE-2001-1017 — rmuser utility in FreeBSD 4.2 and 4.3 creates a copy of the master.passwd file with world-readable permissions while updating the original file, which could allow local users to gain privileges by reading the copied file while rmuser is running, obtain the password hashes, and crack the passwords

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HIGH

rmuser utility in FreeBSD 4.2 and 4.3 creates a copy of the master.passwd file with world-readable permissions while updating the original file, which could allow local users to gain privileges by reading the copied file while rmuser is running, obtain the password hashes, and crack the passwords

Published Mar 9, 2002

7.2

HIGH

CVSS 2.0

EPSS 0.37%

Description

rmuser utility in FreeBSD 4.2 and 4.3 creates a copy of the master.passwd file with world-readable permissions while updating the original file, which could allow local users to gain privileges by reading the copied file while rmuser is running, obtain the password hashes, and crack the passwords.

Affected products

Remediation

No remediation recorded yet.

Metrics

0.37% 0.00367

Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 1, 2026.

EPSS probability 0.00367

Score over time

2022–2026

EPSS v2
EPSS v3
EPSS v4
EPSS v5

Percentile over time

EPSS v2
EPSS v3
EPSS v4
EPSS v5

Table of values (9 key points)

Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.

Date	Score	Percentile	Model
Oct 1, 2026	0.37% (0.00367)	28.22th	v5 (v2026.06.15)
Jun 15, 2026	0.37% (0.00367)	28.32th	v5 (v2026.06.15)
Mar 17, 2025	0.04% (0.00036)	6.94th	v4 (v2025.03.14)
Dec 12, 2024	0.04% (0.00042)	5.07th	v3 (v2023.03.01)
Mar 7, 2023	0.04% (0.00042)	5.63th	v3 (v2023.03.01)
Mar 6, 2023	0.95% (0.00950)	32.28th	v2 (v2022.01.01)
Sep 10, 2022	0.95% (0.00950)	30.63th	v2 (v2022.01.01)
Apr 1, 2022	0.95% (0.00950)	28.61th	v2 (v2022.01.01)
Feb 4, 2022	0.95% (0.00950)	13.46th	v2 (v2022.01.01)

Weaknesses (0)

No CWE recorded.

References (4)

ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/CERT/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-01:59.rmuser.v1.1.asc
vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FREEBSDPatchVendor Advisory
http://www.osvdb.org/1947
vdb-entryx_refsource_OSVDB
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/3282
vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDPatchVendor Advisory
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/7086
vdb-entryx_refsource_XF

Link	Providers	Tags
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/CERT/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-01:59.rmuser.v1.1.asc		vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FREEBSDPatchVendor Advisory
http://www.osvdb.org/1947		vdb-entryx_refsource_OSVDB
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/3282		vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDPatchVendor Advisory
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/7086		vdb-entryx_refsource_XF

Change history (0)

No recorded changes yet.

Sources

CVE.org / MITRE

Status PUBLISHED

Assigner mitre

Published Mar 9, 2002

Updated Aug 8, 2024

Reserved Jan 31, 2002

Link CVE-2001-1017

CISA Vulnrichment

Updated n/a

NVD

Status Modified

Modified Jun 16, 2026

Link CVE-2001-1017

Red Hat

Severity n/a

Public date n/a

Links CVE-2001-1017