Local privilege escalation via inherited supplemental groups
Published Sep 26, 2021 · Updated Sep 8, 2026
Privilege escalation in Siemens S7-1500 MFP firmware V3.1.5 and V3.1.6 allows local users to gain unintended group privileges. The sshd process fails to initialize the supplementary group list before running AuthorizedKeysCommand or AuthorizedPrincipalsCommand helpers as another user, so the helpers retain sshd group memberships. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access and a non-default helper configuration; successful use exposes resources and operations available to the inherited groups.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in Siemens S7-1500 MFP firmware V3.1.5 and V3.1.6 allows local users to gain unintended group privileges. The sshd process fails to initialize the supplementary group list before running AuthorizedKeysCommand or AuthorizedPrincipalsCommand helpers as another user, so the helpers retain sshd group memberships. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access and a non-default helper configuration; successful use exposes resources and operations available to the inherited groups.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-41617
- Published
- Sep 26, 2021
- Updated
- Sep 8, 2026
- Vendor
- Siemens
- Product
- SIPLUS S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP
- Classifications
- CWE-311, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 26, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 8, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=V3.1.5 <*
- Affected versionversion=V3.1.6 <*
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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