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Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2017-5551

medium Nessus Plugin ID 220896

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Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

 - The simple_set_acl function in fs/posix_acl.c in the Linux kernel before 4.9.6 preserves the setgid bit during a setxattr call involving a tmpfs filesystem, which allows local users to gain group privileges by leveraging the existence of a setgid program with restrictions on execute permissions. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2016-7097. (CVE-2017-5551)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

See Also

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2017-5551

https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-5551

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 220896

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2017_5551.nasl

Version: 1.2

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 3/4/2025

Updated: 8/7/2025

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Low

Score: 2.5

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Low

Base Score: 3.6

Temporal Score: 2.7

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2017-5551

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 4.4

Temporal Score: 3.9

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:5, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:22.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-raspi-realtime, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gke, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-fde, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:24.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-realtime, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-intel-iot-realtime, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-raspi2, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/cpu, global_settings/vendor_unpatched, Host/OS/identifier

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 1/23/2017

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2017-5551