Skip to content
Noroxi
NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

CVE-2003-0501: The /proc filesystem in Linux allows local users to obtain sensitive information by opening various entries in /proc/self before executing a…

LowCVSS 2.1 · v2.0—Proof of concept Fix available

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 8/100)

  • Public proof-of-concept code exists (Exploit-DB); there is no record of exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.82% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 58% of all records.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: kernel-image-2.4.17-ia64 (Debian:3.0) kernel-image-2.4.17-ia64; kernel-image-2.4.18-1-alpha (Debian:3.0) 2.4.18-8; kernel-image-2.4.18-1-i386 (Debian:3.0) 2.4.18-9.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to kernel-image-2.4.17-ia64 (Debian:3.0) kernel-image-2.4.17-ia64; kernel-image-2.4.18-1-alpha (Debian:3.0) 2.4.18-8; kernel-image-2.4.18-1-i386 (Debian:3.0) 2.4.18-9 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

The /proc filesystem in Linux allows local users to obtain sensitive information by opening various entries in /proc/self before executing a setuid program, which causes the program to fail to change the ownership and permissions of those entries.

Published
Aug 7, 2003
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
0.8% · 58th percentile
CWE
—

Report tools

JSON

Action score

8

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
8 / 40 · 2.1 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.8%

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • Proof of concept exists, no weaponized module
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2003-0501

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

One daily email digest (06:00 UTC); connect a webhook for KEV listings and weaponized exploits every 10 minutes on paid plans, on the hour on the free plan.

Your free account also gets you

  • CVE alerts: add the products and versions you run, get the new CVEs that affect them
  • Uptime monitoring: 1 site, instant email when it goes down
  • Add your domain: subdomains and takeover risk scanned every week (1 domain)
  • 10 scans an hour on the security tools, at most 30 a day (3 a day without an account), an API key and MCP
  • All your scans in one panel: findings, what changed in the last scan, a report per domain or per client (PDF, share link)
All free tools

Sign up with email · Have an account? Sign in

Free account, no card. Unfollow any time.

Don't want an account? Get "Exploited this week" by email every MondayDon't want an account? RSS feed for linux records
Is your version affected? Check it

Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

We use this product, ask for help

Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
linuxlinux kernel

Affected versions

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

  • linux linux kernel2.6.20.1

Package-level exposure

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

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:3.0kernel-image-2.4.17-ia64before kernel-image-2.4.17-ia64kernel-image-2.4.17-ia64
Debian:3.0kernel-image-2.4.18-1-alphabefore 2.4.18-82.4.18-8
Debian:3.0kernel-image-2.4.18-1-i386before 2.4.18-92.4.18-9
Debian:3.0kernel-image-2.4.18-i386bfbefore 2.4.18-5woody22.4.18-5woody2
Debian:3.0kernel-source-2.4.18before 2.4.18-112.4.18-11

Same product

linux: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-31431crypto: algif_aead - Revert to operating out-of-placeKEV
    90Now
  • CVE-2022-0847A flaw was found in the way the "flags" member of the new pipe buffer structure was lacking proper initialization in copy_page_to_iter_pipe…KEV
    89Now
  • CVE-2021-22555Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACEKEV
    85Now

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2003-0643Jul 25, 2003 · Integer signedness error in the Linux Socket Filter implementation (filter.c) in Linux 2.4.3-pre3 to 2.4.22-pre10 allows attackers to cause…
    8Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2003-0476Aug 7, 2003 · The execve system call in Linux 2.4.x records the file descriptor of the executable process in the file table of the calling process, which…
    8Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2003-0465Aug 18, 2003 · The kernel strncpy function in Linux 2.4 and 2.5 does not %NUL pad the buffer on architectures other than x86, as opposed to the expected…
    21Monitor

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
debian:kernel-image-2.4.17-ia64kernel-image-2.4.17-ia64 · Debian:3.0Package registry (OSV)
debian:kernel-image-2.4.18-1-alpha2.4.18-8 · Debian:3.0Package registry (OSV)
debian:kernel-image-2.4.18-1-i3862.4.18-9 · Debian:3.0Package registry (OSV)
debian:kernel-image-2.4.18-i386bf2.4.18-5woody2 · Debian:3.0Package registry (OSV)
debian:kernel-source-2.4.182.4.18-11 · Debian:3.0Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

Proof of concept available

A public proof of concept or detection signature exists. Exploit knowledge is out there; don't delay patching.

Evidence

  • Exploit-DB entry ×1

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Exploit-DB entrylocal2003-06-20

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.

  1. First PoC-48 d
  2. Published
  3. TodayNov 15, 2026+8502 d

Not on record for this CVE: EPSS history · patch commit or PR link · researcher credit · variant or chain candidate · public bounty program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
P · data can be read
Integrity
none
Availability
none
Attack complexity
Low
Confidentiality impact
P
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
None

Weakness class (CWE)

—

CVSS vector

AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

nvd-primary

Attack context

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

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

References

Show all references (6 more)

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

All records