simpleinit on Linux systems does not close a read/write FIFO file descriptor before creating a child process, which allows the child proces…

published 2002-07-26 24 y ago modified 2026-06-16 4 mo ago also EUVD-2002-0759

cvss: 7.2; version 2.0, NVD
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 1.4%; EPSS 1.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 73%
public exploits: 1; Exploit-DB

simpleinit on Linux systems does not close a read/write FIFO file descriptor before creating a child process, which allows the child process to cause simpleinit to execute arbitrary programs with root privileges.

Patch / fix

links 3

iss.net/security_center/static/9357.php advisory
securityfocus.com/bid/5001 advisory
online.securityfocus.com/archive/1/276739 advisory

Timeline

2002-06-12 First public exploit (EDB-21538)
2002-07-26 Published

Exploit prediction

1.44% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 73% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

EDB-21538 Richard Gooch SimpleInit 2.0.2 - Open File Descriptor local, 2002-06-12
securityfocus.com http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/5001 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
online.securityfocus.com http://online.securityfocus.com/archive/1/276739 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
NVD	2.0	7.2	AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

References

iss.net /security_center/static/9357.php
vdb-entry, patch, vendor-advisory
securityfocus.com /bid/5001
vdb-entry, exploit, patch, vendor-advisory
online.securityfocus.com /archive/1/276739
mailing-list, exploit, patch, vendor-advisory

Sources

CVE List CVE-2002-0767
NVD CVE-2002-0767

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

Summary