Red Hat · Libuser
CVE-2015-3246
Red Hat Libuser Race Condition Vulnerability
What it is
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.
CISA: Red Hat libuser contains a race condition vulnerability that allows authenticated local users to corrupt the /etc/passwd file to cause a denial of service or privilege escalation.
What to do
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.
Deadline for US federal agencies: September 9, 2026
- Added to the CISA list
- August 26, 2026
- Published
- August 11, 2015
- Severity
- High 7.4 CVSS 3.1
- Chance of attacks in the next 30 days (EPSS)
- 8.5% in the top 5.0% of all known vulnerabilities
- More details
- NVD · CVE.org · CISA
All references (10)
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-July/162947.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-1482.html
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-August/163044.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2015-08/msg00000.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-1483.html
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/76022
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44633/
- https://access.redhat.com/articles/1537873
- https://www.qualys.com/2015/07/23/cve-2015-3245-cve-2015-3246/cve-2015-3245-cve-2015-3246.txt
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1033040
More exploited flaws from Red Hat
| Added | Vulnerability | Product | Severity | Attack chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 26, 2026 | Privilege Escalation | Automatic Bug Reporting Tool | High 7.8 | 5.0% |
| Sep 28, 2023 | Expression Language Injection | JBoss RichFaces Framework | Critical 9.8 | 74% |
| May 12, 2023 | Incorrect Authorization | Polkit | High 7.8 | 24% |
| Jun 27, 2022 | Out-of-Bounds Read and Write | Polkit | High 7.8 | 95% |
| May 25, 2022 | Authentication Bypass | JBoss | Low 3.7 | 74% |
| May 25, 2022 | Information Disclosure | JBoss | Medium 5.9 | 53% |
| Dec 10, 2021 | Linux JBoss Seam 2 Remote Code Execution | JBoss Seam 2 | High 8.8 | 83% |
| Dec 10, 2021 | Remote Code Execution | JBoss Application Server | Critical 9.8 | 91% |
Sources: Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (CISA, public domain), CVE records (cve.org) and EPSS (FIRST). The chance of attacks is the EPSS estimate that someone will try to exploit the flaw in the next 30 days.