libuser: does not filter newline characters in the GECOS field
Published Aug 11, 2015
2.1
LOWCVSS 2.0
EPSS 5.35%
Description
Incomplete blacklist vulnerability in the chfn function in libuser before 0.56.13-8 and 0.60 before 0.60-7, as used in the userhelper program in the usermode package, allows local users to cause a denial of service (/etc/passwd corruption) via a newline character in the GECOS field.
Affected products
No data.
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
libuser-0:0.56.13-8.el6_7
Fixed · RHSA-2015:1482
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
libuser-0:0.60-7.ael7b_1
Fixed · RHSA-2015:1483
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
libuser
Will not fix
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | libuser-0:0.56.13-8.el6_7 | Fixed | RHSA-2015:1482 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | libuser-0:0.60-7.ael7b_1 | Fixed | RHSA-2015:1483 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | libuser | Will not fix | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat statement
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 is now in Production 3 Phase of the support and maintenance life cycle. This vulnerability has been rated as having Moderate security impact and is not currently planned to be addressed in future updates. For additional information, refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Life Cycle: https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/updates/errata/.
Red Hat mitigation
Add pam_warn and pam_deny rules to /etc/pam.d/chfn and /etc/pam.d/chsh to prevent non-root users from using this functionality. With these edits, the files should contain: #%PAM-1.0 auth sufficient pam_rootok.so auth required pam_warn.so auth required pam_deny.so auth include system-auth account include system-auth password include system-auth session include system-auth Afterwards, attempts by unprivileged users to use chfn and chsh (and the respective functionality in the userhelper program) will fail, and will be logged (by default in /var/log/secure).
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:N/I:N/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 1, 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 (15 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 5.35% (0.05347) | 92.38th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 5.32% (0.05315) | 91.52th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 6, 2026 | 10.13% (0.10127) | 93.25th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Oct 2, 2025 | 11.16% (0.11161) | 93.25th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Sep 24, 2025 | 12.27% (0.12270) | 93.64th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 30, 2025 | 15.42% (0.15421) | 94.08th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 29, 2025 | 18.60% (0.18596) | 92.19th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 15.42% (0.15421) | 94.15th | 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 13, 2023 | 1.28% (0.01282) | 67.79th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2023 | 1.55% (0.01547) | 74.40th | 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 (13)
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-August/163044.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORA
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-July/162947.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORA
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-1482.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-1483.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/76021 vdb-entryx_refsource_BID
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1033040 vdb-entryx_refsource_SECTRACK
- https://access.redhat.com/articles/1537873 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-3245 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1233043 Issue Tracking
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-3245
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-3245
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44633/ exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB
- https://www.qualys.com/2015/07/23/cve-2015-3245-cve-2015-3246/cve-2015-3245-cve-2015-3246.txt x_refsource_MISCExploit
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.