s-nail: privsep helper local privilege escalation
Published Mar 27, 2017
7.0
HIGHCVSS 3.0
EPSS 1.01%
Description
Directory traversal vulnerability in the setuid root helper binary in S-nail (later S-mailx) before 14.8.16 allows local users to write to arbitrary files and consequently gain root privileges via a .. (dot dot) in the randstr argument.
Affected products
No data.
- ≤ 14.8.5
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
mailx
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
mailx
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
mailx
Not affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | mailx | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | mailx | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | mailx | Not affected | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
No remediation recorded yet.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.1 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
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
2021–2026- EPSS v1
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v1
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Table of values (14 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 1.01% (0.01015) | 61.95th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 1.01% (0.01015) | 58.59th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 1.05% (0.01046) | 75.98th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.06% (0.00062) | 28.69th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Jun 13, 2024 | 0.06% (0.00062) | 26.70th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.06% (0.00062) | 24.69th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 1.83% (0.01832) | 77.15th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 23, 2023 | 1.83% (0.01832) | 77.10th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 1.83% (0.01832) | 75.09th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 1.83% (0.01832) | 54.44th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 2.44% (0.02442) | 53.98th | v1 |
| Jan 6, 2022 | 2.44% (0.02442) | 53.53th | v1 |
| Sep 1, 2021 | 2.44% (0.02442) | 78.39th | v1 |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 2.44% (0.02442) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (8)
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/01/27/7 mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTExploitMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/02/07/4 mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/96138 vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-5899 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1418204 Issue Tracking
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-5899
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-5899
- https://www.mail-archive.com/s-nail-users%40lists.sourceforge.net/msg00551.html mailing-listx_refsource_MLIST
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/01/27/7 | mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTExploitMailing ListThird Party Advisory | |
| http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/02/07/4 | mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTMailing ListThird Party Advisory | |
| http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/96138 | vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry | |
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-5899 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1418204 | Issue Tracking | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-5899 | ||
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-5899 | ||
| https://www.mail-archive.com/s-nail-users%40lists.sourceforge.net/msg00551.html | mailing-listx_refsource_MLIST |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.