CVE-2018-12615
Phusion Passenger incorrect permission assignment
An issue was discovered in switchGroup() in agent/ExecHelper/ExecHelperMain.cpp in Phusion Passenger before 5.3.2. The set of groups (gidset) is not set correctly, leaving it up to randomness (i.e., uninitialized memory) which supplementary groups are actually being set while lowering privileges.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
An issue was discovered in switchGroup() in agent/ExecHelper/ExecHelperMain.cpp in Phusion Passenger before 5.3.2. The set of groups (gidset) is not set correctly, leaving it up to randomness (i.e., uninitialized memory) which supplementary groups are actually being set while lowering privileges.
- Record
CVE-2018-12615- CVSS 3.0
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N - CVSS 2.0
- 5.0 Medium
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-732
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
An issue was discovered in switchGroup() in agent/ExecHelper/ExecHelperMain.cpp in Phusion Passenger before 5.3.2. The set of groups (gidset) is not set correctly, leaving it up to randomness (i.e., uninitialized memory) which supplementary groups are actually being set while lowering privileges.
- Record
CVE-2018-12615- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2022-2266 No score
An issue was discovered in switchGroup() in agent/ExecHelper/ExecHelperMain.cpp in Phusion Passenger before 5.3.2. The set of groups (gidset) is not set correctly, leaving it up to randomness (i.e., uninitialized memory) which supplementary groups are actually being set while lowering privileges.
- Record
EUVD-2022-2266- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-4284-jfhc-f854
Phusion Passenger incorrect permission assignment
An issue was discovered in switchGroup() in agent/ExecHelper/ExecHelperMain.cpp in Phusion Passenger before 5.3.2. The set of groups (gidset) is not set correctly, leaving it up to randomness (i.e., uninitialized memory) which supplementary groups are actually being set while lowering privileges.
- Record
GHSA-4284-jfhc-f854- CVSS 3.0
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-732
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
An issue was discovered in switchGroup() in agent/ExecHelper/ExecHelperMain.cpp in Phusion Passenger before 5.3.2. The set of groups (gidset) is not set correctly, leaving it up to randomness (i.e., uninitialized memory) which supplementary groups are actually being set while lowering privileges.
- Record
CVE-2018-12615- CVSS 3.0
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-4284-jfhc-f854
Phusion Passenger incorrect permission assignment
An issue was discovered in switchGroup() in agent/ExecHelper/ExecHelperMain.cpp in Phusion Passenger before 5.3.2. The set of groups (gidset) is not set correctly, leaving it up to randomness (i.e., uninitialized memory) which supplementary groups are actually being set while lowering privileges.
- Record
GHSA-4284-jfhc-f854- CVSS 3.0
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-732
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
passengerRubyGems |
before 5.3.2 | 5.3.2 |
passengerRubyGems |
before 5.3.2, plus listed versions 1.0.11.0.21.0.31.0.41.0.5 Show 45 moreShow less2.0.12.0.22.0.32.0.42.0.52.0.62.1.22.1.32.2.02.2.12.2.102.2.112.2.122.2.132.2.142.2.152.2.22.2.32.2.42.2.52.2.62.2.72.2.82.2.93.0.03.0.0.pre13.0.0.pre23.0.0.pre33.0.0.pre43.0.13.0.103.0.113.0.123.0.133.0.143.0.153.0.173.0.183.0.193.0.23.0.213.0.33.0.43.0.53.0.6 |
5.3.2 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2018-12615 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.3) in Phusion Passenger, published June 21, 2018. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.18%, the 67th percentile. Fixed in passenger 5.3.2.
References
Left out here: 113 versions. The JSON record has them.