procps: Local privilege escalation in top
Published May 23, 2018
7.3
HIGHCVSS 3.0
EPSS 1.27%
Description
procps-ng before version 3.3.15 is vulnerable to a local privilege escalation in top. If a user runs top with HOME unset in an attacker-controlled directory, the attacker could achieve privilege escalation by exploiting one of several vulnerabilities in the config_file() function.
Affected products
- Vendor n/a Product Procps-Ng, Procps Defaultn/a
- Version procps-ng 3.3.15StatusaffectedConstraints-
- Version
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n/a | Procps-Ng, Procps | n/a |
|
Configuration 1
- < 3.3.15
Configuration 2
- 12.04
- 14.04
- 16.04
- 17.10
- 18.04
Configuration 3
- 7.0
- 8.0
- 9.0
No data.
Red Hat Ansible Tower 3.4 for RHEL 7
ansible-tower-34/ansible-tower-memcached:1.4.15-28
Fixed · RHBA-2020:0547
Red Hat Ansible Tower 3.4 for RHEL 7
ansible-tower-35/ansible-tower-memcached:1.4.15-28
Fixed · RHBA-2020:0547
Red Hat Ansible Tower 3.4 for RHEL 7
ansible-tower-37/ansible-tower-memcached-rhel7:1.4.15-28
Fixed · RHBA-2020:0547
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
procps-ng-0:3.3.10-26.el7
Fixed · RHSA-2019:2189
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 Advanced Update Support
procps-ng-0:3.3.10-16.el7_4.2
Fixed · RHSA-2020:0595
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 Telco Extended Update Support
procps-ng-0:3.3.10-16.el7_4.2
Fixed · RHSA-2020:0595
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 Update Services for SAP Solutions
procps-ng-0:3.3.10-16.el7_4.2
Fixed · RHSA-2020:0595
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 Extended Update Support
procps-ng-0:3.3.10-17.el7_5.4
Fixed · RHSA-2020:1265
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6 Extended Update Support
procps-ng-0:3.3.10-23.el7_6.2
Fixed · RHSA-2020:1464
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
procps
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
procps
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
procps-ng
Not affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Ansible Tower 3.4 for RHEL 7 | ansible-tower-34/ansible-tower-memcached:1.4.15-28 | Fixed | RHBA-2020:0547 |
| Red Hat Ansible Tower 3.4 for RHEL 7 | ansible-tower-35/ansible-tower-memcached:1.4.15-28 | Fixed | RHBA-2020:0547 |
| Red Hat Ansible Tower 3.4 for RHEL 7 | ansible-tower-37/ansible-tower-memcached-rhel7:1.4.15-28 | Fixed | RHBA-2020:0547 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | procps-ng-0:3.3.10-26.el7 | Fixed | RHSA-2019:2189 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 Advanced Update Support | procps-ng-0:3.3.10-16.el7_4.2 | Fixed | RHSA-2020:0595 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 Telco Extended Update Support | procps-ng-0:3.3.10-16.el7_4.2 | Fixed | RHSA-2020:0595 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 Update Services for SAP Solutions | procps-ng-0:3.3.10-16.el7_4.2 | Fixed | RHSA-2020:0595 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 Extended Update Support | procps-ng-0:3.3.10-17.el7_5.4 | Fixed | RHSA-2020:1265 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6 Extended Update Support | procps-ng-0:3.3.10-23.el7_6.2 | Fixed | RHSA-2020:1464 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | procps | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | procps | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | procps-ng | 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
1 other source (Red Hat) ▾
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
AV:L/AC:M/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 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 | 1.27% (0.01273) | 68.83th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 1.30% (0.01300) | 66.60th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 0.34% (0.00340) | 54.51th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.04% (0.00044) | 11.89th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Jul 2, 2024 | 0.04% (0.00044) | 10.25th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.04% (0.00044) | 8.24th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 1.55% (0.01547) | 74.98th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 23, 2023 | 1.55% (0.01547) | 74.94th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 1.55% (0.01547) | 72.92th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 1.55% (0.01547) | 51.82th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 7.04% (0.07037) | 83.35th | v1 |
| Jan 6, 2022 | 7.04% (0.07037) | 83.19th | v1 |
| Sep 1, 2021 | 7.04% (0.07037) | 91.15th | v1 |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 7.04% (0.07037) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (18)
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-10/msg00058.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_SUSE
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-10/msg00059.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_SUSE
- http://seclists.org/oss-sec/2018/q2/122 mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/104214 vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2189 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0595 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-1122 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1575466 Issue Tracking
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2018-1122 x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingThird Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/05/msg00021.html mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTThird Party Advisory
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-1122
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201805-14 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_GENTOOThird Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3658-1/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3658-3/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-1122
- https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4208 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANThird Party Advisory
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44806/ exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
- https://www.qualys.com/2018/05/17/procps-ng-audit-report-advisory.txt x_refsource_MISCExploitThird Party Advisory
Change history (6)
- MITRE
- CVSS severity changed from MEDIUM to
HIGH MEDIUM → HIGH
- CVSS vector changed from CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H to
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H → CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CVSS score changed from 6.7 to
7.3 6.7 → 7.3
- CVSS severity changed from MEDIUM to
HIGH
- REDHAT
- CVSS severity changed from HIGH to
MEDIUM HIGH → MEDIUM
- CVSS vector changed from CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H to
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H → CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CVSS score changed from 7.3 to
6.7 7.3 → 6.7
- CVSS severity changed from HIGH to
MEDIUM