kernel: Linux user namespaces can bypass group-based restrictions
Published Nov 30, 2014
4.6
MEDIUMCVSS 2.0
EPSS 0.50%
Description
The Linux kernel through 3.17.4 does not properly restrict dropping of supplemental group memberships in certain namespace scenarios, which allows local users to bypass intended file permissions by leveraging a POSIX ACL containing an entry for the group category that is more restrictive than the entry for the other category, aka a "negative groups" issue, related to kernel/groups.c, kernel/uid16.c, and kernel/user_namespace.c.
Affected products
No data.
- ≤ 3.17.3
- 3.0
- 3.0
- 3.0
- 3.0
- 3.0
- 3.0
- 3.0
- 3.0.1
- 3.0.2
- 3.0.3
- 3.0.4
- 3.0.5
- 3.0.6
- 3.0.7
- 3.0.8
- 3.0.9
- 3.0.10
- 3.0.11
- 3.0.12
- 3.0.13
- 3.0.14
- 3.0.15
- 3.0.16
- 3.0.17
- 3.0.18
- 3.0.19
- 3.0.20
- 3.0.21
- 3.0.22
- 3.0.23
- 3.0.24
- 3.0.25
- 3.0.26
- 3.0.27
- 3.0.28
- 3.0.29
- 3.0.30
- 3.0.31
- 3.0.32
- 3.0.33
- 3.0.34
- 3.0.35
- 3.0.36
- 3.0.37
- 3.0.38
- 3.0.39
- 3.0.40
- 3.0.41
- 3.0.42
- 3.0.43
- 3.0.44
- 3.0.45
- 3.0.46
- 3.0.47
- 3.0.48
- 3.0.49
- 3.0.50
- 3.0.51
- 3.0.52
- 3.0.53
- 3.0.54
- 3.0.55
- 3.0.56
- 3.0.57
- 3.0.58
- 3.0.59
- 3.0.60
- 3.0.61
- 3.0.62
- 3.0.63
- 3.0.64
- 3.0.65
- 3.0.66
- 3.0.67
- 3.0.68
- 3.1
- 3.1
- 3.1
- 3.1
- 3.1
- 3.1.1
- 3.1.2
- 3.1.3
- 3.1.4
- 3.1.5
- 3.1.6
- 3.1.7
- 3.1.8
- 3.1.9
- 3.1.10
- 3.2
- 3.2
- 3.2
- 3.2
- 3.10
- 3.10.0
- 3.10.1
- 3.10.1
- 3.10.2
- 3.10.2
- 3.10.3
- 3.10.3
- 3.10.4
- 3.10.4
- 3.10.5
- 3.10.5
- 3.10.6
- 3.10.6
- 3.10.7
- 3.10.7
- 3.10.8
- 3.10.8
- 3.10.9
- 3.10.9
- 3.10.10
- 3.10.11
- 3.10.12
- 3.10.13
- 3.10.14
- 3.10.15
- 3.10.16
- 3.10.17
- 3.10.18
- 3.10.19
- 3.10.20
- 3.10.21
- 3.10.22
- 3.10.23
- 3.10.24
- 3.10.25
- 3.10.26
- 3.10.27
- 3.10.28
- 3.10.29
- 3.11
- 3.11.1
- 3.11.2
- 3.11.3
- 3.11.4
- 3.11.5
- 3.11.6
- 3.11.7
- 3.11.8
- 3.11.9
- 3.11.10
- 3.12
- 3.12.1
- 3.12.2
- 3.12.3
- 3.12.4
- 3.12.5
- 3.12.6
- 3.12.7
- 3.12.8
- 3.12.9
- 3.12.10
- 3.12.11
- 3.12.12
- 3.12.13
- 3.12.14
- 3.12.15
- 3.12.16
- 3.12.17
- 3.13
- 3.13.1
- 3.13.2
- 3.13.3
- 3.13.4
- 3.13.5
- 3.13.6
- 3.13.7
- 3.13.8
- 3.13.9
- 3.13.10
- 3.13.11
- 3.14
- 3.14
- 3.14
- 3.14
- 3.14
- 3.14
- 3.14
- 3.14
- 3.14
- 3.14.1
- 3.14.2
- 3.14.3
- 3.14.4
- 3.14.5
- 3.15
- 3.15.1
- 3.15.2
- 3.15.3
- 3.15.4
- 3.15.5
- 3.15.6
- 3.15.7
- 3.15.8
- 3.16.0
- 3.16.1
- 3.17
- 3.17.1
- 3.17.2
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
kernel
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
kernel
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
kernel
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2
kernel
Not affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | kernel | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | kernel | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | kernel | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2 | kernel | Not affected | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat statement
Not vulnerable. This issue does not affect the versions of the kernel package as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6, 7 and Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.1 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.0 score for this CVE.
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 2, 2026.
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 2, 2026 | 0.50% (0.00498) | 40.49th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 0.49% (0.00494) | 38.27th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 0.03% (0.00027) | 4.59th | 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 | 1.28% (0.01282) | 68.34th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 22, 2023 | 1.28% (0.01282) | 68.05th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 1.28% (0.01282) | 65.91th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 1.28% (0.01282) | 41.72th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
References (14)
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-January/147864.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORA
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-January/147973.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORA
- http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.man/7385/ x_refsource_CONFIRMExploit
- http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2015:058 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_MANDRIVA
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/11/20/4 mailing-listx_refsource_MLIST
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/71154 vdb-entryx_refsource_BID
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2515-1 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTU
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2516-1 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTU
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2517-1 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTU
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2518-1 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTU
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2014-8989 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1170684 Issue Tracking
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-8989
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-8989
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.