CVE-2017-20148Public exploit

Root privilege escalation via recursive chown hardlinks

Published Sep 20, 2022 · Updated May 29, 2025

Privilege escalation in Gentoo Logcheck 1.3.23 and earlier allows local users with logcheck access to gain root via crafted hard links. The ebuild's pkg_postinst phase recursively changes ownership under /etc/logcheck and /var/lib/logcheck while following attacker-created hard links to files outside those directories. Control of the logcheck account is required; exploitation transfers ownership of a chosen file and enables root privilege escalation.

CVSS severity9.8
Critical
EPSS probability0.98%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in Gentoo Logcheck 1.3.23 and earlier allows local users with logcheck access to gain root via crafted hard links. The ebuild's pkg_postinst phase recursively changes ownership under /etc/logcheck and /var/lib/logcheck while following attacker-created hard links to files outside those directories. Control of the logcheck account is required; exploitation transfers ownership of a chosen file and enables root privilege escalation.

The record

CVE
CVE-2017-20148
Published
Sep 20, 2022
Updated
May 29, 2025
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-732, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 20, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 29, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

9.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
9.8CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-732Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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