{"id":"CVE-2023-3972","url":"https://www.cyber-defence.io/tools/cve/CVE-2023-3972","generatedAt":"2026-10-28T02:15:22.500Z","title":"A vulnerability was found in insights-client.","description":"A vulnerability was found in insights-client. This security issue occurs because of insecure file operations or unsafe handling of temporary files and directories that lead to local privilege escalation. Before the insights-client has been registered on the system by root, an unprivileged local user or attacker could create the /var/tmp/insights-client directory (owning the directory with read, write, and execute permissions) on the system. After the insights-client is registered by root, an attacker could then control the directory content that insights are using by putting malicious scripts into it and executing arbitrary code as root (trivially bypassing SELinux protections because insights processes are allowed to disable SELinux system-wide).","published":"2023-11-01T16:15:09.000Z","lastModified":"2026-06-17T06:15:32.000Z","status":"Modified","sourceIdentifier":"secalert@redhat.com","cvss":{"version":"3.1","score":7.8,"severity":"HIGH","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"},"cwe":["CWE-379","CWE-668"],"affected":["redhat/insights-client","redhat/enterprise linux","redhat/enterprise linux aus","redhat/enterprise linux desktop","redhat/enterprise linux eus","redhat/enterprise linux for arm 64","redhat/enterprise linux for arm 64 eus","redhat/enterprise linux for ibm z systems","redhat/enterprise linux for ibm z systems eus","redhat/enterprise linux for power big endian","redhat/enterprise linux for power little endian","redhat/enterprise linux for power little endian eus","redhat/enterprise linux for scientific computing","redhat/enterprise linux server","redhat/enterprise linux server aus","redhat/enterprise linux server for power little endian update services for sap solutions","redhat/enterprise linux server tus","redhat/enterprise linux server update services for sap solutions","redhat/enterprise linux update services for sap solutions"],"epss":{"score":0.00269,"percentile":0.18911,"date":"2026-10-26","history":[]},"kev":{"listed":false},"exploits":{"count":0,"verified":false,"firstPublished":null,"source":"Exploit-DB (https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb)","entries":[]},"verdict":{"level":"high","text":"High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.27%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit."},"changes":[],"references":[{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6264","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6282","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6283","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6284","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6795","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6796","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6798","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6811","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-3972","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2227027","tags":["Issue Tracking","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"https://github.com/RedHatInsights/insights-core/pull/3878","tags":["Patch"],"source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6264","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6282","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6283","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6284","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6795","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6796","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6798","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6811","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-3972","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2227027","tags":["Issue Tracking","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://github.com/RedHatInsights/insights-core/pull/3878","tags":["Patch"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"}],"sources":{"nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-3972","epss":"https://www.first.org/epss/","kev":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","exploitdb":"https://www.exploit-db.com/"},"licence":"CC BY 4.0 — link back to the CVE Explorer if you publish the results; upstream data remains subject to its own terms."}