CVE-2017-20002
HIGHDebian shadow <4.5-1 - Privilege Escalation
Title source: llmDescription
The Debian shadow package before 1:4.5-1 for Shadow incorrectly lists pts/0 and pts/1 as physical terminals in /etc/securetty. This allows local users to login as password-less users even if they are connected by non-physical means such as SSH (hence bypassing PAM's nullok_secure configuration). This notably affects environments such as virtual machines automatically generated with a default blank root password, allowing all local users to escalate privileges.
References (3)
Scores
CVSS v3
7.8
EPSS
0.0005
EPSS Percentile
15.9%
Attack Vector
LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Classification
CWE
CWE-269
Status
published
Affected Products (2)
debian/shadow
debian/debian_linux
Timeline
Published
Mar 17, 2021
Tracked Since
Feb 18, 2026