{"id":"CVE-2015-3246","published":"2015-08-11T14:59:07Z","modified":"2026-10-02T11:33:29Z","title":"Red Hat Libuser Race Condition Vulnerability","vendor":"Red Hat","product":"Libuser","tier":"core","eol":null,"description":{"text":"libuser before 0.56.13-8 and 0.60 before 0.60-7, as used in the userhelper program in the usermode package, directly modifies /etc/passwd, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (inconsistent file state) by causing an error during the modification. NOTE: this issue can be combined with CVE-2015-3245 to gain privileges.","provenance":"source","from":"NVD"},"summary":null,"cvss":{"score":7.4,"severity":"HIGH","version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","provenance":"source","from":"NVD"},"epss":{"score":0.08503,"percentile":0.9502,"date":"2026-10-28","provenance":"source"},"kev":{"dateAdded":"2026-08-26","dueDate":"2026-09-09","ransomware":false,"requiredAction":"Apply mitigations in accordance with vendor instructions, ensuring compliance with CISA’s BOD 26-04 Prioritizing Security Updates Based on Risk (see URL in Notes) guidance and CISA’s “Forensics Triage Requirements” (see URL in Notes). Follow applicable BOD 26-04 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. Stakeholders are responsible for evaluating each asset's internet exposure and ensuring adherence to BOD 26-04 patching guidelines.","notes":"This vulnerability affects an open-source component, third-party library, protocol, or proprietary implementation that could be used by different products. For more information, please see: https://access.redhat.com/articles/1537873 ; BOD 26-04: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-26-04-prioritizing-security-updates-based-risk ; Forensics Triage Requirements: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-26-04-implementation-guidance-prioritizing-security-updates-based-risk ; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-3246","provenance":"source"},"vulncheckKev":{"dateAdded":"2026-08-20","exploitedFirstSeen":"2026-08-20","ransomware":false,"evidence":[{"url":"https://blog.talosintelligence.com/uat-10147-chinese-speaking-adversary-integrates-agentic-ai-into-post-compromise-operations/","date":"2026-08-20"},{"url":"https://previdian.com/CVE-2015-3246","date":"2026-08-26"},{"url":"https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json","date":"2026-08-26"},{"url":"https://www.recordedfuture.com/blog/august-2026-cve-landscape","date":"2026-09-08"}],"evidenceTotal":4,"provenance":"source"},"exploited":true,"otx":{"pulseCount":36,"pulses":[{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 29, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ae20c1db17e7057ae7d9ad1","created":"2026-10-28"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 28, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ae0ba7e0e2a97ff7b218819","created":"2026-10-27"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 27, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6adf68b85c3e852f3c111d18","created":"2026-10-26"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 24, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6adb740e397c3ad4799aa4cd","created":"2026-10-23"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 23, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ada236fcfba2dfa730ea482","created":"2026-10-22"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 22, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad8d33a077cbb5cab524d80","created":"2026-10-21"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 21, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad78130c4d1ac2be83a8b6d","created":"2026-10-20"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 20, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad62f63c24a405a3423cc13","created":"2026-10-19"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 19, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad4dda174e5797d0bd238b7","created":"2026-10-18"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 18, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad38c22e1848f8189d1c121","created":"2026-10-17"}],"provenance":"machine"},"cwes":[{"id":"CWE-264","name":null},{"id":"CWE-367","name":"Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition"}],"references":[{"url":"http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-August/163044.html","tags":["Broken Link"]},{"url":"http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-July/162947.html","tags":["Broken Link"]},{"url":"http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2015-08/msg00000.html","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-1482.html","tags":["Vendor Advisory"]},{"url":"http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-1483.html","tags":["Vendor Advisory"]},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/76022","tags":["Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1033040","tags":["Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/articles/1537873","tags":["Mitigation","Vendor Advisory"]},{"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44633/","tags":["Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"https://www.qualys.com/2015/07/23/cve-2015-3245-cve-2015-3246/cve-2015-3245-cve-2015-3246.txt","tags":["Exploit"]},{"url":"http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-August/163044.html","tags":["Broken Link"]},{"url":"http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-July/162947.html","tags":["Broken Link"]},{"url":"http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2015-08/msg00000.html","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-1482.html","tags":["Vendor Advisory"]},{"url":"http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-1483.html","tags":["Vendor 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(Metasploit)","type":"local","platform":"linux","date":"2018-05-16","verified":true,"provenance":"source"}],"exploitSources":{"exploitdb":{"count":3,"earliest":"2015-07-27"},"pocGithub":{"count":1,"skipped":0,"earliest":"2026-08-27","earliestUrl":"https://github.com/HORKimhab/CVE-2015-3246","repos":[{"name":"HORKimhab/CVE-2015-3246","url":"https://github.com/HORKimhab/CVE-2015-3246","stars":0,"created":"2026-08-27"}]},"metasploit":[{"name":"Libuser roothelper Privilege Escalation","module":"exploit/linux/local/libuser_roothelper_priv_esc","type":"exploit","disclosureDate":"2015-07-24","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/local/libuser_roothelper_priv_esc.rb"}],"first":{"date":"2015-07-24","source":"Metasploit","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/local/libuser_roothelper_priv_esc.rb"},"provenance":"source"},"exploitRefs":["https://www.qualys.com/2015/07/23/cve-2015-3245-cve-2015-3246/cve-2015-3245-cve-2015-3246.txt","https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44633/"],"flow":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2015-07-24","kind":"exploit-public","label":"First public exploit: Metasploit; later: Exploit-DB 2015-07-27, PoC-in-GitHub 2026-08-27","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/local/libuser_roothelper_priv_esc.rb","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2015-08-11","kind":"published","label":"Published 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