Improper input validation in Red Hat shadow
Priority LOW 35CWE-20Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 1 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
There is a possible tty hijacking in shadow 4.x before 4.1.5 and sudo 1.x before 1.7.4 via "su - user -c program". The user session can be escaped to the parent session by using the TIOCSTI ioctl to push characters into the input buffer to be read by the next process.
Why it matters now
EPSS 0.0063 50th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix Partial shadow (Red Hat): 4.1.5sudo (Red Hat): 1.7.4Red Hat: 1 without a fix
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat | shadow | 4 to before 4.1.5 | 4.1.5 | Patch available | CNA |
| Red Hat | sudo | 1 to before 1.7.4 | 1.7.4 | Patch available | CNA |
- shadow VendorRed Hat Affected 4 to before 4.1.5 Fixed in 4.1.5 Patch available CNA
- sudo VendorRed Hat Affected 1 to before 1.7.4 Fixed in 1.7.4 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 8
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:debian:shadow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 4.0.0 – 4.1.5 | Vulnerable | Debian |
| cpe:2.3:a:sudo_project:sudo:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 1.3.0 – 1.7.4 | Vulnerable | Sudo project |
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 8.0 | Vulnerable | Debian |
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 9.0 | Vulnerable | Debian |
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 10.0 | Vulnerable | Debian |
| cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:4:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 4 | Vulnerable | Red Hat |
| cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:5:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5 | Vulnerable | Red Hat |
| cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.0 | Vulnerable | Red Hat |
- cpe:2.3:a:debian:shadow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 4.0.0 – 4.1.5 Vulnerable ·Debian
- cpe:2.3:a:sudo_project:sudo:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 1.3.0 – 1.7.4 Vulnerable ·Sudo project
- cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 8.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
- cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 9.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
- cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 10.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
- cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:4:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 4 Vulnerable ·Red Hat
- cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:5:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5 Vulnerable ·Red Hat
- cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.0 Vulnerable ·Red Hat
Remediation
- Fix · CNA shadow (Red Hat) Fixed in 4.1.5
- Fix · CNA sudo (Red Hat) Fixed in 1.7.4
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2005-4890
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-3p48-pw9r-4325
- 2026-10-28 EPSS moved to the 50th–90th percentile
References
Advisory 10
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/12/15/5
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2005-4890
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2005-4890
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2005-4890
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/11/06/8
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/05/20/3
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/11/28/10
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/11/29/5
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/10/20/9
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/10/21/1
More Red Hat Enterprise Linux vulnerabilities
- TI-2019-08259 Underflow in PHP-FPM can lead to RCE KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2018-10530 Code injection in [UNKNOWN] RichFaces KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2014-05975 GNU Bash through 4.3 bash43-025 processes trailing strings after certain malformed… KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2014-05157 GNU Bash through 4.3 processes trailing strings after function definitions in the values… KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2025-23530 Sudo before 1.9.17p1 allows local users to obtain root access because /etc/nsswitch.conf… KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.3
- TI-2021-17490 mod_proxy SSRF KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.0
Sources
- CVE-2005-4890 · CVE Program
- CVE-2005-4890 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-3p48-pw9r-4325 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2005-4890 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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