CVE-2022-24986Public exploit

Local privilege escalation via reused temporary filename

Published Feb 26, 2022 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

Privilege escalation in KDE KCron 21.12.2 and earlier allows local users to run commands as another user through a temporary-file race. CTCron caches a QTemporaryFile name for the editing session, deletes the file after saving, and later reopens that path without O_EXCL or O_NOFOLLOW. After observing one save, an untrusted local user can race a symlink or controlled file before a later save, replacing user or system crontab content.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.25%
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 KDE KCron 21.12.2 and earlier allows local users to run commands as another user through a temporary-file race. CTCron caches a QTemporaryFile name for the editing session, deletes the file after saving, and later reopens that path without O_EXCL or O_NOFOLLOW. After observing one save, an untrusted local user can race a symlink or controlled file before a later save, replacing user or system crontab content.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-24986
Published
Feb 26, 2022
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-668, CWE-362, T1053.003
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 26, 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?

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

7.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.8UbuntuCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.6NIST NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

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-668Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere
CWE-362Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')
T1053.003Scheduled Task/Job: Cron

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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