shadow-utils: useradd-mkdirs.patch creates intermediate directories with 0777
Published Sep 26, 2018
7.8
HIGHCVSS 3.0
EPSS 0.30%
Description
Privilege escalation can occur in the SUSE useradd.c code in useradd, as distributed in the SUSE shadow package through 4.2.1-27.9.1 for SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 (SLE-12) and through 4.5-5.39 for SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 (SLE-15). Non-existing intermediate directories are created with mode 0777 during user creation. Given that they are world-writable, local attackers might use this for privilege escalation and other unspecified attacks. NOTE: this would affect non-SUSE users who took useradd.c code from a 2014-04-02 upstream pull request; however, no non-SUSE distribution is known to be affected.
Affected products
No data.
Configuration 1
Running on/with
- 12.0
Configuration 2
Running on/with
- 15.0
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
shadow-utils
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
shadow-utils
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
shadow-utils
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
shadow-utils
Not affected
Red Hat Virtualization 4
shadow-utils
Not affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | shadow-utils | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | shadow-utils | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | shadow-utils | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | shadow-utils | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Virtualization 4 | shadow-utils | 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:L/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:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
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 1, 2026.
Score over time
2021–2026- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
Percentile over time
- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
Table of values (8 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 0.30% (0.00301) | 20.60th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 0.30% (0.00301) | 22.96th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jul 20, 2024 | 0.04% (0.00042) | 5.06th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.04% (0.00042) | 5.63th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 0.89% (0.00885) | 27.89th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 0.89% (0.00885) | 10.50th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 0.22% (0.00221) | 1.67th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 0.22% (0.00221) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (5)
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2018-09/msg00073.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_SUSEVendor Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-16588 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1626123 Issue Tracking
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-16588
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-16588
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2018-09/msg00073.html | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_SUSEVendor Advisory | |
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-16588 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1626123 | Issue Tracking | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-16588 | ||
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-16588 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.