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Vulnerability · Published Jul 23, 2025 · Assigned by redhat

CVE-2025-6018Pam-config: lpe from unprivileged to allow_active in pam

High 7.8

In plain English

A high-severity incorrect authorization in pam. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 1.1% (higher than 66% of all known vulnerabilities). Ready-made attack tooling exists: public proof-of-concept code.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)7.8High
Exploit odds (30 days)1.1%top 34.1% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: poc
Attack tooling1Public PoC

Official description

A Local Privilege Escalation (LPE) vulnerability has been discovered in pam-config within Linux Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM). This flaw allows an unprivileged local attacker (for example, a user logged in via SSH) to obtain the elevated privileges normally reserved for a physically present, "allow_active" user. The highest risk is that the attacker can then perform all allow_active yes Polkit actions, which are typically restricted to console users, potentially gaining unauthorized control over system configurations, services, or other sensitive operations.

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
pam 0 – before 1.1.8-24.71.1
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 see references
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 see references
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 see references

Weakness: CWE-863 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References