CVE-2023-3972
HIGHDescription
A vulnerability was found in insights-client. This security issue occurs because of insecure file operations or unsafe handling of temporary files and directories that lead to local privilege escalation. Before the insights-client has been registered on the system by root, an unprivileged local user or attacker could create the /var/tmp/insights-client directory (owning the directory with read, write, and execute permissions) on the system. After the insights-client is registered by root, an attacker could then control the directory content that insights are using by putting malicious scripts into it and executing arbitrary code as root (trivially bypassing SELinux protections because insights processes are allowed to disable SELinux system-wide).
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 19% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-379 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2020-11979 | High | 7.5 | 8.2% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2020-27216 | High | 7.0 | 4.4% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2023-26396 | High | 7.8 | 4.0% | - | - |
| CVE-2024-36821 | Medium | 6.8 | 2.9% | - | - |
| CVE-2021-21290 | Medium | 6.2 | 1.8% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2021-21100 | High | 7.8 | 1.7% | - | - |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2023-3972?
Published advisories record a fix for 2 affected products. The "How to fix" section on this page lists the fixed version and source advisory for each one, so apply the entry matching what you actually run.
Is CVE-2023-3972 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2023-3972 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 0.27% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 19% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2023-3972?
CVE-2023-3972 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8, rated high. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2023-3972 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for insights-client (Red Hat / RHEL), insights-client (Rocky). Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2024-11-21.