A local privilege escalation vulnerability was found on polkit's pkexec utility. The pkexec application is a setuid tool designed to allow unprivileged users to run commands as privileged users according predefined policies. The current version of pkexec doesn't handle the calling parameters count correctly and ends trying to execute environment variables as commands. An attacker can leverage this by crafting environment variables in such a way it'll induce pkexec to execute arbitrary code. When successfully executed the attack can cause a local privilege escalation given unprivileged users administrative rights on the target machine.
CVSS Details
- CVSS 3.1 Base Score: 7.8
- CVSS 3.1 Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
Covered by Rapid7
| Product | Vendor Advisory | Solution File | Added | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alma_linux | alma-upgrade-polkitalma-upgrade-polkit-develalma-upgrade-polkit-docsalma-upgrade-polkit-libs | May 4, 2022 | Jan 28, 2022 | |
| Alpine Linux | alpine-linux-upgrade-polkit | Mar 21, 2024 | Jan 28, 2022 | |
| Amazon Linux Ami 2 | amazon-linux-ami-2-upgrade-polkitamazon-linux-ami-2-upgrade-polkit-debuginfoamazon-linux-ami-2-upgrade-polkit-develamazon-linux-ami-2-upgrade-polkit-docs | Jul 4, 2022 | Jan 28, 2022 | |
| Amazon_linux_2023 | amazon-linux-2023-upgrade-polkitamazon-linux-2023-upgrade-polkit-debuginfoamazon-linux-2023-upgrade-polkit-debugsourceamazon-linux-2023-upgrade-polkit-develamazon-linux-2023-upgrade-polkit-docsamazon-linux-2023-upgrade-polkit-libsamazon-linux-2023-upgrade-polkit-libs-debuginfo | Feb 17, 2025 | Jan 25, 2022 | |
| Arch Linux | arch-linux-upgrade-latest | Jul 11, 2025 | Jan 28, 2022 | |
| Centos_linux | — | centos-upgrade-polkitcentos-upgrade-polkit-debuginfocentos-upgrade-polkit-debugsourcecentos-upgrade-polkit-desktop-policycentos-upgrade-polkit-develcentos-upgrade-polkit-docscentos-upgrade-polkit-libscentos-upgrade-polkit-libs-debuginfo | Feb 17, 2022 | Jan 28, 2022 |
| Debian | debian-upgrade-policykit-1 | Jan 27, 2022 | Jan 27, 2022 | |
| Freebsd | freebsd-upgrade-package-polkit | Nov 4, 2022 | Jan 26, 2022 | |
| Gentoo Linux | gentoo-linux-upgrade-sys-auth-polkit | Jan 28, 2022 | Jan 27, 2022 | |
| Huawei Euleros 2_0_sp10 | huawei-euleros-2_0_sp10-upgrade-polkithuawei-euleros-2_0_sp10-upgrade-polkit-libs | Apr 20, 2022 | Jan 28, 2022 | |
| Huawei Euleros 2_0_sp3 | huawei-euleros-2_0_sp3-upgrade-polkithuawei-euleros-2_0_sp3-upgrade-polkit-debuginfohuawei-euleros-2_0_sp3-upgrade-polkit-develhuawei-euleros-2_0_sp3-upgrade-polkit-docs | Mar 30, 2022 | Jan 28, 2022 | |
| Huawei Euleros 2_0_sp5 | huawei-euleros-2_0_sp5-upgrade-polkithuawei-euleros-2_0_sp5-upgrade-polkit-develhuawei-euleros-2_0_sp5-upgrade-polkit-docs | Mar 22, 2022 | Jan 28, 2022 | |
| Huawei Euleros 2_0_sp8 | huawei-euleros-2_0_sp8-upgrade-polkithuawei-euleros-2_0_sp8-upgrade-polkit-develhuawei-euleros-2_0_sp8-upgrade-polkit-docshuawei-euleros-2_0_sp8-upgrade-polkit-libs | Mar 29, 2022 | Jan 28, 2022 | |
| Huawei Euleros 2_0_sp9 | huawei-euleros-2_0_sp9-upgrade-polkithuawei-euleros-2_0_sp9-upgrade-polkit-debuginfohuawei-euleros-2_0_sp9-upgrade-polkit-debugsourcehuawei-euleros-2_0_sp9-upgrade-polkit-develhuawei-euleros-2_0_sp9-upgrade-polkit-helphuawei-euleros-2_0_sp9-upgrade-polkit-libs | Apr 18, 2022 | Jan 28, 2022 | |
| Nutanix Ahv | nutanix-ahv-upgrade-latest | Jun 5, 2026 | Jan 24, 2023 | |
| Oracle Solaris | oracle-solaris-11-4-upgrade-system-library-polkit-0-118-11-4-42-0-1-113-1 | Feb 17, 2022 | Jan 28, 2022 | |
| Oracle_linux | — | oracle-linux-upgrade-polkitoracle-linux-upgrade-polkit-desktop-policyoracle-linux-upgrade-polkit-develoracle-linux-upgrade-polkit-docsoracle-linux-upgrade-polkit-libs | Jan 26, 2022 | Jan 25, 2022 |
| Redhat_linux | redhat-upgrade-polkitredhat-upgrade-polkit-debuginforedhat-upgrade-polkit-debugsourceredhat-upgrade-polkit-develredhat-upgrade-polkit-docsredhat-upgrade-polkit-libsredhat-upgrade-polkit-libs-debuginfo | Jan 26, 2022 | Jan 25, 2022 | |
| Rocky_linux | rocky-upgrade-polkitrocky-upgrade-polkit-debuginforocky-upgrade-polkit-debugsourcerocky-upgrade-polkit-develrocky-upgrade-polkit-libsrocky-upgrade-polkit-libs-debuginfo | May 5, 2022 | Jan 28, 2022 | |
| Suse | — | suse-upgrade-libpolkit-agent-1-0suse-upgrade-libpolkit-gobject-1-0suse-upgrade-libpolkit0suse-upgrade-libpolkit0-32bitsuse-upgrade-pkexecsuse-upgrade-polkitsuse-upgrade-polkit-develsuse-upgrade-polkit-docsuse-upgrade-typelib-1_0-polkit-1_0 | Jan 26, 2022 | Jan 25, 2022 |
| Ubuntu | ubuntu-pro-upgrade-policykit-1ubuntu-upgrade-policykit-1 | Jan 26, 2022 | Jan 25, 2022 | |
| Vmware Photon_os | vmware-photon_os_update_tdnf | Jan 20, 2025 | Jan 28, 2022 |
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