man-db before 2.8.5 on Gentoo allows local users (with access to the man user account) to…
Priority HIGH 69CWE-250Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Privilege escalation
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-250.
Summary
man-db before 2.8.5 on Gentoo allows local users (with access to the man user account) to gain root privileges because /usr/bin/mandb is executed by root but not owned by root. (Also, the owner can strip the setuid and setgid bits.)
Why it matters now
Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00387 33rd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix No fix listed No fixed version in the sources yet
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | all versions | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- — Vendor— Affected all versions Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:man-db_project:man-db:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | before 2.8.5 | Vulnerable | Man-db Project |
- cpe:2.3:a:man-db_project:man-db:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 2.8.5 Vulnerable ·Man-db Project
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2018-25078
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-h23x-f4p5-92c3
References
Exploit 1
Advisory 1
More Man-db Project Man-db vulnerabilities
- TI-2015-01215 The daily mandb cleanup job in Man-db before 2.7.6.1-1 as packaged in Ubuntu and Debian… CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.8
Sources
- CVE-2018-25078 · CVE Program
- CVE-2018-25078 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-h23x-f4p5-92c3 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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