CVE-2002-0638 — MEDIUM severity vulnerability (setpwnam.c in the util-linux package, as included in Red Hat)
setpwnam.c in the util-linux package, as included in Red Hat Linux 7.3 and earlier, and other operating systems, does not properly lock a temporary file when modifying /etc/passwd, which may allow local users to gain privileges via a complex race condition that uses an open file descriptor in utility programs such as c
| CVE ID | CVE-2002-0638 |
|---|---|
| Severity | MEDIUM |
| CVSS score | 6.2 |
| CVSS vector | AV:L/AC:H/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C |
| CWE | NVD-CWE-Other |
| Status | Modified |
| Published | 2002-08-12 |
| Last modified | 2026-04-16 |
| Description | setpwnam.c in the util-linux package, as included in Red Hat Linux 7.3 and earlier, and other operating systems, does not properly lock a temporary file when modifying /etc/passwd, which may allow local users to gain privileges via a complex race condition that uses an open file descriptor in utility programs such as chfn and chsh. |
| Source | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
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