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Livecd ToolsApplication · Redhat

CVE-2013-2069

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-05-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.4.4 / 17.17 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
Red Hat livecd-tools before 13.4.4, 17.x before 17.17, 18.x before 18.16, and 19.x before 19.3, when a rootpw directive is not set in a Kickstart file, sets the root user password to empty, which allows local users to gain privileges.

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

livecd-tools before certain versions sets the root password to empty when the rootpw directive is missing from a Kickstart file, allowing any local user to gain root privileges.

MitigationAlways include the rootpw directive with a strong password hash in Kickstart files, and upgrade livecd-tools to version 13.4.4, 17.17, 18.16, or 19.3 or later.

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
Livecd ToolsApplication
Affected:< 13.4.4>= 17.0, < 17.17>= 18.0, < 18.16>= 19.0, < 19.3

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 livecd-tools version
    Run: rpm -q livecd-tools or dpkg -l livecd-tools to determine the installed version number
    Affected if Version is less than 13.4.4, or between 17.0-17.16, 18.0-18.15, or 19.0-19.2
  2. Identify Kickstart files used with livecd-creator
    Review build scripts or documentation for any livecd-creator commands and locate the associated .ks (Kickstart) files
    Affected if Any Kickstart file is missing the rootpw directive entirely
  3. Verify root password is set in Kickstart files
    Open each Kickstart file and search for a line beginning with 'rootpw'
    Affected if No 'rootpw' line exists in the Kickstart configuration
  4. Check for empty root password on livecd-generated systems
    On systems built using livecd-tools, attempt: su - (as non-root user, press Enter at password prompt) or check /etc/shadow for root user entry starting with root:
    Affected if Root account has no password (empty string in /etc/shadow)

You are affected if livecd-tools version falls within the vulnerable ranges AND a Kickstart file without rootpw was used to build a live image, resulting in an empty root password.

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 13.4.4 / 17.17 / 18.16 or later
Fixed in 13.4.417.1718.16
Interim mitigation

Always include the rootpw directive with a strong password hash in Kickstart files, and upgrade livecd-tools to version 13.4.4, 17.17, 18.16, or 19.3 or later.

Fix this in Livecd Tools Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

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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-2013-2069 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