CVE-2002-0638

Severity: medium (CVSS 6.2 v2.0)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.5% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2002-08-12 · updated 2026-06-16

Description

setpwnam.c in the util-linux package, as included in Red Hat Linux 7.3 and earlier, and other operating systems, does not properly lock a temporary file when modifying /etc/passwd, which may allow local users to gain privileges via a complex race condition that uses an open file descriptor in utility programs such as chfn and chsh.

Affected products

HP Secure Os: 1.0
Mandrakesoft Mandrake Linux: 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2
Mandrakesoft Mandrake Linux Corporate Server: 1.0.1
Mandrakesoft Mandrake Single Network Firewall: 7.2
RedHat Linux: 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2 (+1)

References

http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2002-07/0357.html
http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2002-07/0396.html
http://distro.conectiva.com.br/atualizacoes/?id=a&anuncio=000523
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=102795787713996&w=2
http://online.securityfocus.com/advisories/4320
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2002-132.html
http://www.iss.net/security_center/static/9709.php
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/405955
http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/security/2002/MDKSA-2002-047.php
http://www.osvdb.org/5164
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2002-137.html

Get alerted when CVE-2002-0638 or the next vulnerability affects your stack