Skip to content
Noroxi
CVE-2023-26604· NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

systemd before 247 does not adequately block local privilege escalation for some Sudo configurations, e.g., plausible sudoers files in which

systemd before 247 does not adequately block local privilege escalation for some Sudo configurations, e.g., plausible sudoers files in which the "systemctl status" command may be executed. Specifically, systemd does not set LESSSECURE to 1, and thus other programs may be launched from the less program. This presents a substantial security risk when running systemctl from Sudo, because less executes as root when the terminal size is too small to show the complete systemctl output.

HighCVSS 7.8 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

We don't hand-write analysis for the hundreds of thousands of vulnerabilities in the database; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.

We use this product, ask for help
Published
Mar 3, 2023
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
1.1% · 63th percentile
Follow this CVE

Sign in to follow · You’ll be notified if a followed record enters KEV, gets an exploit or is updated.

Report tools

JSON

Action score

31

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
31 / 40 · 7.8 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 1.1%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
proof of concept
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

Affected systems

VendorProduct
debiandebian linux
systemd projectsystemd

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • debian debian linux10.0
  • systemd project systemdbefore 246.7

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
AlmaLinux:8systemdbefore 239-74.el8_8.2239-74.el8_8.2
AlmaLinux:8systemd-containerbefore 239-74.el8_8.2239-74.el8_8.2
AlmaLinux:8systemd-develbefore 239-74.el8_8.2239-74.el8_8.2
AlmaLinux:8systemd-journal-remotebefore 239-74.el8_8.2239-74.el8_8.2
AlmaLinux:8systemd-libsbefore 239-74.el8_8.2239-74.el8_8.2
AlmaLinux:8systemd-pambefore 239-74.el8_8.2239-74.el8_8.2
AlmaLinux:8systemd-testsbefore 239-74.el8_8.2239-74.el8_8.2
AlmaLinux:8systemd-udevbefore 239-74.el8_8.2239-74.el8_8.2
Debian:10systemdbefore 241-7~deb10u9241-7~deb10u9
Debian:12systemdbefore 247.1-2247.1-2
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseossystemdbefore 0:239-74.el8_8.20:239-74.el8_8.2
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseossystemd-containerbefore 0:239-74.el8_8.20:239-74.el8_8.2
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseossystemd-container-debuginfobefore 0:239-74.el8_8.20:239-74.el8_8.2
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseossystemd-debuginfobefore 0:239-74.el8_8.20:239-74.el8_8.2
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseossystemd-debugsourcebefore 0:239-74.el8_8.20:239-74.el8_8.2
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseossystemd-develbefore 0:239-74.el8_8.20:239-74.el8_8.2
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseossystemd-journal-remotebefore 0:239-74.el8_8.20:239-74.el8_8.2
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseossystemd-journal-remote-debuginfobefore 0:239-74.el8_8.20:239-74.el8_8.2
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseossystemd-libsbefore 0:239-74.el8_8.20:239-74.el8_8.2
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseossystemd-libs-debuginfobefore 0:239-74.el8_8.20:239-74.el8_8.2
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseossystemd-pambefore 0:239-74.el8_8.20:239-74.el8_8.2
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseossystemd-pam-debuginfobefore 0:239-74.el8_8.20:239-74.el8_8.2
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseossystemd-testsbefore 0:239-74.el8_8.20:239-74.el8_8.2
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseossystemd-tests-debuginfobefore 0:239-74.el8_8.20:239-74.el8_8.2

+33

Same product

debian: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2016-9079A use-after-free vulnerability in SVG Animation has been discovered.KEV
    86Now
  • CVE-2024-44308The issue was addressed with improved checks.KEV
    68This week
  • CVE-2021-25216A second vulnerability in BIND's GSSAPI security policy negotiation can be targeted by a buffer overflow attack
    64This week
  • CVE-2024-44309A cookie management issue was addressed with improved state management.KEV
    62This week
  • CVE-2016-2098Action Pack in Ruby on Rails before 3.2.22.2, 4.x before 4.1.14.2, and 4.2.x before 4.2.5.2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary Rub
    53Plan
  • CVE-2015-1592Movable Type Pro, Open Source, and Advanced before 5.2.12 and Pro and Advanced 6.0.x before 6.0.7 does not properly use the Perl Storable::t
    53Plan

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
almalinux:systemd239-74.el8_8.2 · AlmaLinux:8Package registry (OSV)
almalinux:systemd-container239-74.el8_8.2 · AlmaLinux:8Package registry (OSV)
almalinux:systemd-devel239-74.el8_8.2 · AlmaLinux:8Package registry (OSV)
almalinux:systemd-journal-remote239-74.el8_8.2 · AlmaLinux:8Package registry (OSV)
almalinux:systemd-libs239-74.el8_8.2 · AlmaLinux:8Package registry (OSV)
almalinux:systemd-pam239-74.el8_8.2 · AlmaLinux:8Package registry (OSV)
almalinux:systemd-tests239-74.el8_8.2 · AlmaLinux:8Package registry (OSV)
almalinux:systemd-udev239-74.el8_8.2 · AlmaLinux:8Package registry (OSV)
debian:systemd247.1-2 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)
red hat:systemd0:239-74.el8_8.2 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseosPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:systemd-container0:239-74.el8_8.2 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseosPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:systemd-container-debuginfo0:239-74.el8_8.2 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseosPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:systemd-debuginfo0:239-74.el8_8.2 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseosPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:systemd-debugsource0:239-74.el8_8.2 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseosPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:systemd-devel0:239-74.el8_8.2 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseosPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:systemd-journal-remote0:239-74.el8_8.2 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseosPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:systemd-journal-remote-debuginfo0:239-74.el8_8.2 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseosPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:systemd-libs0:239-74.el8_8.2 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseosPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:systemd-libs-debuginfo0:239-74.el8_8.2 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseosPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:systemd-pam0:239-74.el8_8.2 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseosPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:systemd-pam-debuginfo0:239-74.el8_8.2 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseosPackage registry (OSV)
rocky linux:systemd0:239-74.el8_8.2 · Rocky Linux:8Package registry (OSV)
suse:systemd228-157.52.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP5Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-primary

Root cause

To simplify setup, a service account is granted broad, cluster-wide permissions. The principle of least privilege is skipped during installation.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-269 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

yaml
kind: ClusterRolerules:  - apiGroups: ["*"]    resources: ["*"]    verbs: ["*"]

Fixed

yaml
kind: Rolemetadata:  namespace: lodos-systemrules:  - apiGroups: ["apps"]    resources: ["deployments"]    verbs: ["get", "list", "update"]

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records