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Fencer Vulns
medium 4.4

CVE-2017-5551 json

The simple_set_acl function in fs/posix_acl.c in the Linux kernel before 4.9.6 preserves the setgid bit during a setxattr call involving a…

published 2017-02-06 9 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2017-14652

cvss
4.4
version 3.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.4%
EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 36%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

The simple_set_acl function in fs/posix_acl.c in the Linux kernel before 4.9.6 preserves the setgid bit during a setxattr call involving a tmpfs filesystem, which allows local users to gain group privileges by leveraging the existence of a setgid program with restrictions on execute permissions. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2016-7097.

Patch / fix

  • linux Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 4.9.6-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2017-5551

  • linux Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-67.88
  • linux-aws Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1009.18
  • linux-hwe Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.10.0-32.36~16.04.1
  • linux-raspi2 Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1048.55
  • linux-lts-xenial Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 4.4.0-67.88~14.04.1
  • linux-snapdragon Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1051.55

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2017-5551

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • kernel RHEL 6 2.6.32-696.el6
  • perf RHEL 6 2.6.32-696.el6
  • python-perf RHEL 6 2.6.32-696.el6
  • kernel-kdump RHEL 6 2.6.32-696.el6
  • kernel-firmware RHEL 6 2.6.32-696.el6
  • kernel-bootwrapper RHEL 6 2.6.32-696.el6
  • kernel-abi-whitelists RHEL 6 2.6.32-696.el6
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 RHEL 6 2.6.32-696.el6

red hat advisories RHSA-2017:0817RHSA-2017:2669RHSA-2017:2077RHSA-2017:1842

  • kernel-rt SLE Real Time 12 SP2 4.4.74-7.10.1
  • kernel-syms-rt SLE Real Time 12 SP2 4.4.74-7.10.1
  • kernel-rt_debug SLE Real Time 12 SP2 4.4.74-7.10.1
  • kernel-source-rt SLE Real Time 12 SP2 4.4.74-7.10.1
  • kernel-rt SLE Real Time 11 SP4 3.0.101.rt130-68.1
  • kernel-syms-rt SLE Real Time 11 SP4 3.0.101.rt130-68.1
  • kernel-rt_trace SLE Real Time 11 SP4 3.0.101.rt130-68.1
  • kernel-source-rt SLE Real Time 11 SP4 3.0.101.rt130-68.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2017:1990-1SUSE-SU-2017:1102-1SUSE-SU-2017:0575-1SUSE-SU-2017:0494-1SUSE-SU-2017:0471-1SUSE-SU-2017:0464-1

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2017-5551 updated cvss 4.4

kernel: S_ISGD is not cleared when setting posix ACLs in tmpfs (CVE-2016-7097 incomplete fix)

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 kernel
    affected: no fix planned “Will not fix”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel 3.10.0-693.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-693.el7, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-693.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel 3.10.0-693.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-693.el7, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-693.el7
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:1842
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-abi-whitelists 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-696.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) python-perf 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-696.el6
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0817
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Real Time (v. 7) kernel-rt 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Real Time for NFV (v. 7) kernel-rt 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7, kernel-rt-kvm 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7, kernel-rt-debug-kvm 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7, kernel-rt-trace-kvm 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:2077
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-abi-whitelists 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-696.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) python-perf 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-696.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-kdump 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-bootwrapper 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-abi-whitelists 2.6.32-696.el6, +4 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0817
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel 3.10.0-693.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-kdump 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-693.el7, +6 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:1842
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) python-perf 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-696.el6
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0817
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 3.10.0-693.el7
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:1842
show 6 more
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-abi-whitelists 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-696.el6
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0817
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel 3.10.0-693.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-693.el7, +1 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:1842
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) python-perf 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-696.el6
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0817
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-693.el7
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:1842
  • Red Hat MRG Realtime for RHEL 6 Server v.2 kernel-rt 3.10.0-693.2.1.rt56.585.el6rt, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-693.2.1.rt56.585.el6rt, kernel-rt-vanilla 3.10.0-693.2.1.rt56.585.el6rt, kernel-rt-firmware 3.10.0-693.2.1.rt56.585.el6rt, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-693.2.1.rt56.585.el6rt
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:2669
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) kernel-headers 3.10.0-693.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) kernel-headers 3.10.0-693.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) kernel-headers 3.10.0-693.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) kernel-headers 3.10.0-693.el7
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

0.42% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 36% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 3.0 4.4 CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
NVD 2.0 3.6 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N

Classification

Technology feeds

References

Sources

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.