CVE-2020-16125

HIGH

gnome_display_manager < 3.36.2 - Local Privilege Escalation via Unresponsive Accounts Daemon

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 1 public exploit for CVE-2020-16125. PoCs published by za970120604.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This repository provides a detailed analysis of CVE-2020-16125, a privilege escalation vulnerability in Ubuntu's gdm3. The vulnerability allows an attacker to create a privileged account by crashing the accountservice, triggering gnome-initial-setup.

Description

gdm3 versions before 3.36.2 or 3.38.2 would start gnome-initial-setup if gdm3 can't contact the accountservice service via dbus in a timely manner; on Ubuntu (and potentially derivatives) this could be be chained with an additional issue that could allow a local user to create a new privileged account.

Exploits (1)

nomisec WRITEUP 1 stars
by za970120604 · poc
https://github.com/za970120604/CVE-2020-16125-Reproduction

This repository provides a detailed analysis of CVE-2020-16125, a privilege escalation vulnerability in Ubuntu's gdm3. The vulnerability allows an attacker to create a privileged account by crashing the accountservice, triggering gnome-initial-setup.

Classification
Writeup 90%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Ubuntu 20.04.1 with gdm3 before 3.36.2 or 3.38.2
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Access to the target system · Ability to crash the accountservice
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →

References (3)

Core 3
Core References
Exploit, Vendor Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gdm/-/issues/642
Third Party Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gdm3/+bug/1900314

Scores

CVSS v3 7.2
EPSS 0.0111
EPSS Percentile 61.6%
Attack Vector PHYSICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Details

CWE
CWE-754
Status published
Products (1)
gnome/gnome_display_manager < 3.36.2
Published Nov 10, 2020
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026