MAN DB: Privilege escalation

MAN DB: Privilege escalation A vulnerability in MAN DB allows local users to gain root privileges. man-db 2017-07-09 2017-08-06: 2 602588 local 2.7.6.1-r2 2.7.6.1-r2

MAN DB is a man replacement that utilizes BerkelyDB instead of flat files.

The /var/cache/man directory as part of the MAN DB package has group permissions set to root.

A local user who does not belong to the root group, but has the ability to modify the /var/cache/man directory can escalate privileges to the group root.

There is no known workaround at this time.

All MAN DB users should upgrade to the latest version:


      # emerge --sync
      # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=sys-apps/man-db-2.7.6.1-r2:0"

CVE-2015-1336 whissi whissi