CVE-2020-36770

Root file takeover via unsafe post-install chown

Published Jan 15, 2024 · Updated Jun 20, 2025

Incorrect ownership assignment in the Gentoo Slurm ebuild through 22.05.3 allows local users with slurm account access to take over root-owned files. The ebuild's pkg_postinst function runs chown against files in the live root filesystem and assigns their ownership to the slurm user without a necessary ownership change. Exploitation requires local slurm-account access and can transfer control of root-owned files, enabling privilege escalation through later file modification.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.37%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Incorrect ownership assignment in the Gentoo Slurm ebuild through 22.05.3 allows local users with slurm account access to take over root-owned files. The ebuild's pkg_postinst function runs chown against files in the live root filesystem and assigns their ownership to the slurm user without a necessary ownership change. Exploitation requires local slurm-account access and can transfer control of root-owned files, enabling privilege escalation through later file modification.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-36770
Published
Jan 15, 2024
Updated
Jun 20, 2025
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-732, T1222.002, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 15, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jun 20, 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
7.8CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-732Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource
T1222.002Linux and Mac File and Directory Permissions Modification
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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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