CVE-2018-7169
An issue was discovered in shadow 4.5. newgidmap (in shadow-utils) is setuid and allows an...
An issue was discovered in shadow 4.5. newgidmap (in shadow-utils) is setuid and allows an unprivileged user to be placed in a user namespace where setgroups(2) is permitted. This allows an attacker to remove themselves from a supplementary group, which may allow access to certain filesystem paths if the administrator has used "group blacklisting" (e.g., chmod g-rwx) to restrict access to paths. This flaw effectively reverts a security feature in the kernel (in particular, the /proc/self/setgroups knob) to prevent this sort of privilege escalation.
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
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
5.3
An issue was discovered in shadow 4.5. newgidmap (in shadow-utils) is setuid and allows an unprivileged user to be placed in a user namespace where setgroups(2) is permitted. This allows an attacker to remove themselves from a supplementary group, which may allow access to certain filesystem paths if the administrator has used "group blacklisting" (e.g., chmod g-rwx) to restrict access to paths. This flaw effectively reverts a security feature in the kernel (in particular, the /proc/self/setgroups knob) to prevent this sort of privilege escalation.
- Record
CVE-2018-7169- CVSS 3.0
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - CVSS 2.0
- 5.0 Medium
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-732
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
An issue was discovered in shadow 4.5. newgidmap (in shadow-utils) is setuid and allows an unprivileged user to be placed in a user namespace where setgroups(2) is permitted. This allows an attacker to remove themselves from a supplementary group, which may allow access to certain filesystem paths if the administrator has used "group blacklisting" (e.g., chmod g-rwx) to restrict access to paths. This flaw effectively reverts a security feature in the kernel (in particular, the /proc/self/setgroups knob) to prevent this sort of privilege escalation.
- Record
CVE-2018-7169- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2018-18911 No score
An issue was discovered in shadow 4.5. newgidmap (in shadow-utils) is setuid and allows an unprivileged user to be placed in a user namespace where setgroups(2) is permitted. This allows an attacker to remove themselves from a supplementary group, which may allow access to certain filesystem paths if the administrator has used "group blacklisting" (e.g., chmod g-rwx) to restrict access to paths. This flaw effectively reverts a security feature in the kernel (in particular, the /proc/self/setgroups knob) to prevent this sort of privilege escalation.
- Record
EUVD-2018-18911- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-m2px-jr9v-8hhp
5.3
An issue was discovered in shadow 4.5. newgidmap (in shadow-utils) is setuid and allows an...
An issue was discovered in shadow 4.5. newgidmap (in shadow-utils) is setuid and allows an unprivileged user to be placed in a user namespace where setgroups(2) is permitted. This allows an attacker to remove themselves from a supplementary group, which may allow access to certain filesystem paths if the administrator has used "group blacklisting" (e.g., chmod g-rwx) to restrict access to paths. This flaw effectively reverts a security feature in the kernel (in particular, the /proc/self/setgroups knob) to prevent this sort of privilege escalation.
- Record
GHSA-m2px-jr9v-8hhp- CVSS 3.0
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-732
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
5.3
An issue was discovered in shadow 4.5. newgidmap (in shadow-utils) is setuid and allows an unprivileged user to be placed in a user namespace where setgroups(2) is permitted. This allows an attacker to remove themselves from a supplementary group, which may allow access to certain filesystem paths if the administrator has used "group blacklisting" (e.g., chmod g-rwx) to restrict access to paths. This flaw effectively reverts a security feature in the kernel (in particular, the /proc/self/setgroups knob) to prevent this sort of privilege escalation.
- Record
CVE-2018-7169- CVSS 3.0
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2018-7169
5.3
An issue was discovered in shadow 4.5. newgidmap (in shadow-utils) is setuid and allows an unprivileged user to be placed in a user namespace where setgroups(2) is permitted. This allows an attacker to remove themselves from a supplementary group, which may allow access to certain filesystem paths if the administrator has used "group blacklisting" (e.g., chmod g-rwx) to restrict access to paths. This flaw effectively reverts a security feature in the kernel (in particular, the /proc/self/setgroups knob) to prevent this sort of privilege escalation.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2018-7169- CVSS 3.0
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Show 6 moreShow less
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2018-7169
5.3
An issue was discovered in shadow 4.5. newgidmap (in shadow-utils) is setuid and allows an unprivileged user to be placed in a user namespace where setgroups(2) is permitted. This allows an attacker to remove themselves from a supplementary group, which may allow access to certain filesystem paths if the administrator has used "group blacklisting" (e.g., chmod g-rwx) to restrict access to paths. This flaw effectively reverts a security feature in the kernel (in particular, the /proc/self/setgroups knob) to prevent this sort of privilege escalation.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2018-7169- CVSS 3.0
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVCLSA-2022-1643637259 No score
Fix CVE(s): CVE-2017-12424, CVE-2018-7169
- SECURITY UPDATE: Crash or buffer overflow
- debian/patches/CVE-2017-12424.patch: fix buffer overflow if NULL line is present in db in lib/commonio.c.
- CVE-2017-12424
- SECURITY UPDATE: Access to privileged information
- debian/patches/CVE-2018-7169.patch: newgidmap: enforce setgroups=deny if self-mapping a group in src/newgidmap.c.
- CVE-2018-7169
- Record
CLSA-2022-1643637259- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2018-0177 No score
Updated shadow-utils packages fix security vulnerability
Privilege escalation in newgidmap, which allowed an unprivileged user to be placed in a user namespace where setgroups(2) is allowed (CVE-2018-7169).
- Record
MGASA-2018-0177- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:11378-1 No score
libsubid-devel-4.9-1.1 on GA media
These are all security issues fixed in the libsubid-devel-4.9-1.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:11378-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2018:0662-1 No score
Security update for shadow
This update for shadow fixes the following issues:
- CVE-2018-7169: Fixed an privilege escalation in newgidmap, which allowed an unprivileged user to be placed in a user namespace where setgroups(2) is allowed. (bsc#1081294)
- Record
SUSE-SU-2018:0662-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUSN-5254-1 No score
shadow vulnerabilities
It was discovered that shadow incorrectly handled certain inputs. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a crash or expose sensitive information. This issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 ESM and Ubuntu 16.04 ESM. (CVE-2017-12424)
It was discovered that shadow incorrectly handled certain inputs. An attacker could possibly use this issue to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2018-7169)
- Record
USN-5254-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
loginTuxCare:Ubuntu:16.04 |
before 1:4.2-3.1ubuntu5.5+tuxcare.els1 | 1:4.2-3.1ubuntu5.5+tuxcare.els1 |
passwdTuxCare:Ubuntu:16.04 |
before 1:4.2-3.1ubuntu5.5+tuxcare.els1 | 1:4.2-3.1ubuntu5.5+tuxcare.els1 |
uidmapTuxCare:Ubuntu:16.04 |
before 1:4.2-3.1ubuntu5.5+tuxcare.els1 | 1:4.2-3.1ubuntu5.5+tuxcare.els1 |
shadowDebian:12 |
before 1:4.7-1 | 1:4.7-1 |
shadowDebian:13 |
before 1:4.7-1 | 1:4.7-1 |
shadowDebian:14 |
before 1:4.7-1 | 1:4.7-1 |
shadow-utilsMageia:5 |
before 4.2.1-6.2.mga5 | 4.2.1-6.2.mga5 |
shadow-utilsMageia:6 |
before 4.4-1.2.mga6 | 4.4-1.2.mga6 |
shadowSUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP2 |
before 4.2.1-27.6.1 | 4.2.1-27.6.1 |
shadowSUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP3 |
before 4.2.1-27.6.1 | 4.2.1-27.6.1 |
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| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
shadowSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for Raspberry Pi 12 SP2 |
before 4.2.1-27.6.1 | 4.2.1-27.6.1 |
shadowSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2 |
before 4.2.1-27.6.1 | 4.2.1-27.6.1 |
shadowSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP2 |
before 4.2.1-27.6.1 | 4.2.1-27.6.1 |
shadowSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3 |
before 4.2.1-27.6.1 | 4.2.1-27.6.1 |
shadowSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP3 |
before 4.2.1-27.6.1 | 4.2.1-27.6.1 |
shadowUbuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS |
before 1:4.1.5.1-1ubuntu9.5+esm1, plus listed versions 1:4.1.5.1-1ubuntu61:4.1.5.1-1ubuntu71:4.1.5.1-1ubuntu81:4.1.5.1-1ubuntu91:4.1.5.1-1ubuntu9.11:4.1.5.1-1ubuntu9.21:4.1.5.1-1ubuntu9.41:4.1.5.1-1ubuntu9.5 |
1:4.1.5.1-1ubuntu9.5+esm1 |
shadowUbuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS |
before 1:4.2-3.1ubuntu5.5+esm1, plus listed versions 1:4.1.5.1-1.1ubuntu71:4.2-3.1ubuntu11:4.2-3.1ubuntu21:4.2-3.1ubuntu31:4.2-3.1ubuntu4 Show 4 moreShow less1:4.2-3.1ubuntu51:4.2-3.1ubuntu5.21:4.2-3.1ubuntu5.31:4.2-3.1ubuntu5.4 |
1:4.2-3.1ubuntu5.5+esm1 |
shadowUbuntu:18.04:LTS |
before 1:4.5-1ubuntu2.2, plus listed versions 1:4.2-3.2ubuntu41:4.5-1ubuntu11:4.5-1ubuntu2 |
1:4.5-1ubuntu2.2 |
shadowopenSUSE:Tumbleweed |
before 4.9-1.1 | 4.9-1.1 |
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-2018-7169 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.3) in Shadow Project Shadow, published February 15, 2018. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.57%, the 75th percentile. Fixed in login 1:4.2-3.1ubuntu5.5+tuxcare.els1.
References
bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/shadow/+bug/1729357
security.gentoo.org/glsa/201805-09
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-7169
github.com/advisories/GHSA-m2px-jr9v-8hhp
errata.cloudlinux.com/ubuntu16_04/CLSA-2022-1643637259
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-7169
Show 11 moreShow less
advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2018-0177.html
bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=22766
lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2018-03/msg00036.html
suse.com/support/update/announcement/2018/suse-su-20180662-1
bugzilla.suse.com/1081294
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-7169
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-7169
github.com/shadow-maint/shadow/pull/97
ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-5254-1
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-7169
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-12424