CVE-2021-23240

HIGH

Sudo < 1.9.5 - Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation via Symlink Attack in sudoedit

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Description

selinux_edit_copy_tfiles in sudoedit in Sudo before 1.9.5 allows a local unprivileged user to gain file ownership and escalate privileges by replacing a temporary file with a symlink to an arbitrary file target. This affects SELinux RBAC support in permissive mode. Machines without SELinux are not vulnerable.

References (8)

Core 8
Core References
Exploit, Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2021-23240
Release Notes, Vendor Advisory x_refsource_confirm
https://www.sudo.ws/stable.html#1.9.5
Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_gentoo
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202101-33
Third Party Advisory x_refsource_confirm
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210129-0010/

Scores

CVSS v3 7.8
EPSS 0.0021
EPSS Percentile 43.0%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Details

CWE
CWE-59
Status published
Products (5)
fedoraproject/fedora 32
fedoraproject/fedora 33
netapp/hci_management_node
netapp/solidfire
sudo_project/sudo < 1.8.32
Published Jan 12, 2021
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026