Root code execution via unanchored interpreter regexes
Published May 17, 2022 · Updated Nov 3, 2025
Local privilege escalation in needrestart 0.8 through 3.5 allows local users to execute arbitrary code when interpreter scanning runs. The Perl, Python, and Ruby interpreter modules accept executable paths that merely contain trusted interpreter path substrings because their isa checks use unanchored regular expressions. Exploitation requires a crafted local process to be present when needrestart runs with elevated privileges, commonly through a package-manager hook, yielding root-level code execution.
Summary
What happened
Local privilege escalation in needrestart 0.8 through 3.5 allows local users to execute arbitrary code when interpreter scanning runs. The Perl, Python, and Ruby interpreter modules accept executable paths that merely contain trusted interpreter path substrings because their isa checks use unanchored regular expressions. Exploitation requires a crafted local process to be present when needrestart runs with elevated privileges, commonly through a package-manager hook, yielding root-level code execution.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-30688
- Published
- May 17, 2022
- Updated
- Nov 3, 2025
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 17, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Nov 3, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo