zsh before 5.0.7 allows evaluation of the initial values of integer variables imported from the environment (instead of treating them as lit
zsh before 5.0.7 allows evaluation of the initial values of integer variables imported from the environment (instead of treating them as literal numbers). That could allow local privilege escalation, under some specific and atypical conditions where zsh is being invoked in privilege-elevation contexts when the environment has not been properly sanitized, such as when zsh is invoked by sudo on systems where "env_reset" has been disabled.
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
- Feb 27, 2018
- Updated
- Jun 16, 2026
- EPSS
- 0.5% · 39th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-264
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Report tools
Action score
31
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 31 / 40 · 7.8 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 0.5%
Affected systems
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| zsh project | zsh | cpe:2.3:a:zsh_project:zsh |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- zsh project zshup to 5.0.6 inclusive
Package-level exposure
OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:12 | zsh | before 5.0.7-3 | 5.0.7-3 |
| Debian:7 | zsh | before 4.3.17-1+deb7u1 | 4.3.17-1+deb7u1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP3 | zsh | before 5.0.5-6.7.2 | 5.0.5-6.7.2 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Point of Sale 11 SP3 | zsh | before 4.3.6-67.9.8.1 | 4.3.6-67.9.8.1 |
Same product
zsh project: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2014-10072In utils.c in zsh before 5.0.6, there is a buffer overflow when scanning very long directory paths for symbolic links.40Plan
- CVE-2017-18205In builtin.c in zsh before 5.4, when sh compatibility mode is used, there is a NULL pointer dereference during processing of the cd command 33Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
| Product / package | Fixed version | Source |
|---|---|---|
| debian:zsh | 5.0.7-3 · Debian:12 | Package registry (OSV) |
| suse:zsh | 5.0.5-6.7.2 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP3 | Package 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.
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 researchersFinders, 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-264 · Permissions, Privileges, and Access ControlsCVSS vector
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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.
Change log
- Fix✗ → ✓
For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →
References
- zsh.sourceforge.net/releases.html
- sourceforge.net/p/zsh/code/ci/546203a770cec329e73781c3c8ab1078390aee72
- usn.ubuntu.com/3593-1/
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.