CVE-2023-43741Public exploit

Root escalation via symlink exchange race

Published Dec 22, 2023 · Updated Aug 27, 2024

Local privilege escalation in Buildkite Elastic CI Stack for AWS 6.7.0 and 5.22.4 allows local users to execute commands as root. The privileged fix-buildkite-agent-builds-permissions script validates PIPELINE_PATH with realpath, then recursively changes ownership by path, allowing renameat2 to replace the checked directory with a symlink before chown. A user able to run build commands as buildkite-agent can take ownership of the script, modify it, and execute it through passwordless sudo on a subsequent build.

CVSS severity7.0
High
EPSS probability0.19%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Local privilege escalation in Buildkite Elastic CI Stack for AWS 6.7.0 and 5.22.4 allows local users to execute commands as root. The privileged fix-buildkite-agent-builds-permissions script validates PIPELINE_PATH with realpath, then recursively changes ownership by path, allowing renameat2 to replace the checked directory with a symlink before chown. A user able to run build commands as buildkite-agent can take ownership of the script, modify it, and execute it through passwordless sudo on a subsequent build.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-43741
Published
Dec 22, 2023
Updated
Aug 27, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-367, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 22, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 27, 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

7.0NIST NVDCVSS: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.

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-367Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

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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