Privilege escalation via PATH-based compression command lookup
Published Feb 7, 2023 · Updated Mar 20, 2025
Untrusted search path in X.Org libXpm before 3.5.15 allows local users to execute programs with raised privileges via PATH manipulation. When reading or writing .Z or .gz files, the library uses execlp to locate compression utilities through the caller-controlled PATH instead of fixed executable paths. Exploitation requires a privileged caller, such as a setuid program, and control of its PATH environment, allowing a chosen program to inherit that caller's privileges.
Summary
What happened
Untrusted search path in X.Org libXpm before 3.5.15 allows local users to execute programs with raised privileges via PATH manipulation. When reading or writing .Z or .gz files, the library uses execlp to locate compression utilities through the caller-controlled PATH instead of fixed executable paths. Exploitation requires a privileged caller, such as a setuid program, and control of its PATH environment, allowing a chosen program to inherit that caller's privileges.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-4883
- Published
- Feb 7, 2023
- Updated
- Mar 20, 2025
- Vendor
- X.Org
- Product
- libXpm
- Classifications
- CWE-426, T1574.007
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 7, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Mar 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?
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- Affected versionversion=3.5.15
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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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