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FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject

CVE-2007-5191

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 2007-10-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.13.1.1 or later.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
mount and umount in util-linux and loop-aes-utils call the setuid and setgid functions in the wrong order and do not check the return values, which might allow attackers to gain privileges via helpers such as mount.nfs.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The mount and umount utilities in util-linux and loop-aes-utils call setuid() and setgid() in the incorrect order and fail to check their return values. This improper privilege handling can leave the process in an unintended privilege state, potentially allowing local attackers to gain elevated privileges through helpers like mount.nfs.

MitigationUpdate util-linux to the latest version which corrects the setuid/setgid call sequence and properly checks return values. Apply any vendor patches available for this issue.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 7
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 6.06= 6.10= 7.04
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 3.1
Util LinuxApplication
Affected:<= 2.13.1.1
Loop Aes UtilsApplication
Affected:all versions

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed util-linux version
    Run 'rpm -q util-linux' (Fedora/RHEL) or 'dpkg -l util-linux' (Debian/Ubuntu) or check the mount binary version with 'mount --version' or '/sbin/mount --version'
    Affected if The installed version is 2.13.1.1 or earlier, or the version cannot be determined but the package is from an affected distribution (Fedora 7, Ubuntu 6.06/6.10/7.04, Debian 3.1)
  2. Identify the mount and umount binary locations and versions
    Run 'which mount umount' to find their paths, then run 'ls -la /sbin/mount /sbin/umount' or check version with '--version' flag
    Affected if The binaries are from util-linux version 2.13.1.1 or earlier
  3. Check if loop-aes-utils is installed
    Run 'rpm -q loop-aes-utils' (Fedora/RHEL) or 'dpkg -l loop-aes-utils' (Debian/Ubuntu) or check for /sbin/losetup with 'file /sbin/losetup'
    Affected if loop-aes-utils is installed (all versions of loop-aes-utils are affected)
  4. Verify the operating system version
    Run 'cat /etc/redhat-release' (Fedora/RHEL) or 'cat /etc/lsb-release' (Ubuntu) or 'cat /etc/debian_version' (Debian)
    Affected if Running Fedora 7, Ubuntu 6.06, Ubuntu 6.10, Ubuntu 7.04, or Debian 3.1 with the affected util-linux package

A system is affected if it runs util-linux version 2.13.1.1 or earlier (or is one of the listed affected distribution versions), or if loop-aes-utils is installed.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.13.1.1
Interim mitigation

Update util-linux to the latest version which corrects the setuid/setgid call sequence and properly checks return values. Apply any vendor patches available for this issue.

Fix this in Fedora Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2007-5191 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data