CVE-2023-21896

Local takeover via undisclosed NSSwitch flaw

Published Apr 18, 2023 · Updated Sep 16, 2024

Privilege escalation in Oracle Solaris 10 and 11 NSSwitch allows local users with low privileges to take over the operating system. Oracle has not published the flaw's implementation details or the unsafe NSSwitch operation that enables the escalation. Exploitation requires a low-privileged local account and high-complexity conditions, but success grants full control of the affected Solaris host.

CVSS severity7.0
High
EPSS probability0.17%
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 Oracle Solaris 10 and 11 NSSwitch allows local users with low privileges to take over the operating system. Oracle has not published the flaw's implementation details or the unsafe NSSwitch operation that enables the escalation. Exploitation requires a low-privileged local account and high-complexity conditions, but success grants full control of the affected Solaris host.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-21896
Published
Apr 18, 2023
Updated
Sep 16, 2024
Vendor
Oracle
Product
Oracle Solaris
Classifications
T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 18, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 16, 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=10
  2. Affected versionversion=11

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Oracle · Oracle Solarisversion=10; version=11

Published CVSS scores

7.0OracleCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/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.

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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 exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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