High CVSS 7.8

Overview

A Local Privilege Escalation (LPE) vulnerability has been discovered in pam-config within Linux Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM). This flaw allows an unprivileged local attacker (for example, a user logged in via SSH) to obtain the elevated privileges normally reserved for a physically present, "allow_active" user. The highest risk is that the attacker can then perform all allow_active yes Polkit actions, which are typically restricted to console users, potentially gaining unauthorized control over system configurations, services, or other sensitive operations.

Risk analysis

This vulnerability is rated 🟠 HIGH.

  • CVSS: 7.8 (HIGH)
  • Detected tags: priv_esc (tag impact: HIGH)

Recommended actions:

  • Fix privilege escalation urgently.
  • Enforce least-privilege and strengthen EDR detection.

Recommended tools

Tags