CVE-2023-6917: Pcp: unsafe use of directories allows pcp to root privilege escalation

Severity: medium (CVSS 6.7 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2024-02-28 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-367

Description

A vulnerability has been identified in the Performance Co-Pilot (PCP) package, stemming from the mixed privilege levels utilized by systemd services associated with PCP. While certain services operate within the confines of limited PCP user/group privileges, others are granted full root privileges. This disparity in privilege levels poses a risk when privileged root processes interact with directories or directory trees owned by unprivileged PCP users. Specifically, this vulnerability may lead to the compromise of PCP user isolation and facilitate local PCP-to-root exploits, particularly through symlink attacks. These vulnerabilities underscore the importance of maintaining robust privilege separation mechanisms within PCP to mitigate the potential for unauthorized privilege escalation.

Affected products

Red Hat Enterprise Linux: 9.0
Sgi Performance Co-Pilot: before 6.2.0 — fixed in 6.2.0

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Sgi Performance Co-Pilot 6.2.0. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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