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CVE-2020-10737

A race condition was found in the mkhomedir tool shipped with the oddjob package in versions...

6.3 MediumFix available

A race condition was found in the mkhomedir tool shipped with the oddjob package in versions before 0.34.5 and 0.34.6 wherein, during the home creation, mkhomedir copies the /etc/skel directory into the newly created home and changes its ownership to the home's user without properly checking the homedir path. This flaw allows an attacker to leverage this issue by creating a symlink point to a target folder, which then has its ownership transferred to the new home directory's unprivileged user.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges needed
High
User interaction
Required

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

0.29%Down 0.3 points since Apr 14, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 6.3

A race condition was found in the mkhomedir tool shipped with the oddjob package in versions before 0.34.5 and 0.34.6 wherein, during the home creation, mkhomedir copies the /etc/skel directory into the newly created home and changes its ownership to the home's user without properly checking the homedir path. This flaw allows an attacker to leverage this issue by creating a symlink point to a target folder, which then has its ownership transferred to the new home directory's unprivileged user.

Record
CVE-2020-10737
CVSS 3.1
6.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-362
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-3161 6.3

A race condition was found in the mkhomedir tool shipped with the oddjob package in versions before 0.34.5 and 0.34.6 wherein, during the home creation, mkhomedir copies the /etc/skel directory into the newly created home and changes its ownership to the home's user without properly checking the homedir path. This flaw allows an attacker to leverage this issue by creating a symlink point to a target folder, which then has its ownership transferred to the new home directory's unprivileged user.

Record
EUVD-2020-3161
CVSS 3.1
6.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-m6xw-hhwx-7qjc 6.3

A race condition was found in the mkhomedir tool shipped with the oddjob package in versions...

A race condition was found in the mkhomedir tool shipped with the oddjob package in versions before 0.34.5 and 0.34.6 wherein, during the home creation, mkhomedir copies the /etc/skel directory into the newly created home and changes its ownership to the home's user without properly checking the homedir path. This flaw allows an attacker to leverage this issue by creating a symlink point to a target folder, which then has its ownership transferred to the new home directory's unprivileged user.

Record
GHSA-m6xw-hhwx-7qjc
CVSS 3.1
6.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-362
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 6.3

A race condition was found in the mkhomedir tool shipped with the oddjob package in versions before 0.34.5 and 0.34.6 wherein, during the home creation, mkhomedir copies the /etc/skel directory into the newly created home and changes its ownership to the home's user without properly checking the homedir path. This flaw allows an attacker to leverage this issue by creating a symlink point to a target folder, which then has its ownership transferred to the new home directory's unprivileged user.

Record
CVE-2020-10737
CVSS 3.1
6.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.0
3.7 LowAV:L/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Weakness
CWE-362
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 6.3

A race condition was found in the mkhomedir tool shipped with the oddjob package in versions before 0.34.5 and 0.34.6 wherein, during the home creation, mkhomedir copies the /etc/skel directory into the newly created home and changes its ownership to the home's user without properly checking the homedir path. This flaw allows an attacker to leverage this issue by creating a symlink point to a target folder, which then has its ownership transferred to the new home directory's unprivileged user.

Record
CVE-2020-10737
CVSS 3.1
6.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2020-10737 6.3

A race condition was found in the mkhomedir tool shipped with the oddjob package in versions before 0.34.5 and 0.34.6 wherein, during the home creation, mkhomedir copies the /etc/skel directory into the newly created home and changes its ownership to the home's user without properly checking the homedir path. This flaw allows an attacker to leverage this issue by creating a symlink point to a target folder, which then has its ownership transferred to the new home directory's unprivileged user.

Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2020-10737
CVSS 3.1
6.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
Show 4 moreShow less
OSVRHSA-2020:4687 6.3

Red Hat Security Advisory: oddjob security, bug fix, and enhancement update

Record
RHSA-2020:4687
CVSS 3.1
6.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2020-10737 6.3

A race condition was found in the mkhomedir tool shipped with the oddjob package in versions before 0.34.5 and 0.34.6 wherein, during the home creation, mkhomedir copies the /etc/skel directory into the newly created home and changes its ownership to the home's user without properly checking the homedir path. This flaw allows an attacker to leverage this issue by creating a symlink point to a target folder, which then has its ownership transferred to the new home directory's unprivileged user.

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2020-10737
CVSS 3.1
6.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:11109-1 No score

oddjob-0.34.5-1.9 on GA media

These are all security issues fixed in the oddjob-0.34.5-1.9 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.

Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:11109-1
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUSN-5169-1 No score

oddjob vulnerability

Matthias Gerstner discovered that there was a race condition in the mkhomedir tool shipped with the oddjob package. An authenticated attacker could use this to setup a symlink attack and change permissions on files on the host filesystem.

Record
USN-5169-1
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
oddjob
Debian:12
 before 0.34.6-1
0.34.6-1
oddjob
Debian:13
 before 0.34.6-1
0.34.6-1
oddjob
Debian:14
 before 0.34.6-1
0.34.6-1
oddjob
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
 before 0:0.34.5-3.el8
0:0.34.5-3.el8
oddjob-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
 before 0:0.34.5-3.el8
0:0.34.5-3.el8
oddjob-debugsource
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
 before 0:0.34.5-3.el8
0:0.34.5-3.el8
oddjob-mkhomedir
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
 before 0:0.34.5-3.el8
0:0.34.5-3.el8
oddjob-mkhomedir-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
 before 0:0.34.5-3.el8
0:0.34.5-3.el8
oddjob
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS
 before 0.34.3-2ubuntu0.1~esm1, plus listed versions
0.34.3-10.34.3-2
0.34.3-2ubuntu0.1~esm1
oddjob
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS
 before 0.34.3-4ubuntu0.1~esm1, plus listed versions
0.34.3-4
0.34.3-4ubuntu0.1~esm1
oddjob
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS
 before 0.34.4-1ubuntu0.1~esm1, plus listed versions
0.34.4-1
0.34.4-1ubuntu0.1~esm1
oddjob
openSUSE:Tumbleweed
 before 0.34.5-1.9
0.34.5-1.9

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
facts
aliasesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2020-10737 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.3) in Red Hat Oddjob, published May 27, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.29%, the 22nd percentile. Fixed in oddjob 0.34.6-1.

References

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