CVE-2022-1665

Secure Boot bypass via production-signed test kernels

Published Jun 21, 2022 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

Secure Boot bypass in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 allows local users with high privileges to boot untrusted code on IBM Power systems. Pre-production kernel packages were signed with Red Hat production Secure Boot keys even though they lack the lockdown patches required for trusted builds. Exploitation requires Secure Boot on PowerPC, installation of a non-production kernel, and selection of that kernel as the default GRUB2 boot entry.

CVSS severity8.2
High
EPSS probability0.27%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Secure Boot bypass in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 allows local users with high privileges to boot untrusted code on IBM Power systems. Pre-production kernel packages were signed with Red Hat production Secure Boot keys even though they lack the lockdown patches required for trusted builds. Exploitation requires Secure Boot on PowerPC, installation of a non-production kernel, and selection of that kernel as the default GRUB2 boot entry.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-1665
Published
Jun 21, 2022
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
Red Hat
Product
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Classifications
CWE-1291, T1542.003
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 21, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 3, 2024Record 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=8.6

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linuxversion=8.6

Published CVSS scores

4.6NIST NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
8.2NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-1291Public Key Re-Use for Signing both Debug and Production Code
T1542.003Bootkit

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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