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AdequateApplication · Debian

CVE-2013-6409

MEDIUM · 6.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-12-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 0.8 or later.
See remediation →
67/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Debian adequate before 0.8.1, when run by root with the --user option, allows local users to hijack the tty and possibly gain privileges via the TIOCSTI ioctl.

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 · moderate confidence

The adequate file integrity checker, when run as root with the --user option, fails to properly restrict tty access, allowing local users to inject terminal commands via the TIOCSTI ioctl and potentially escalate privileges to root.

MitigationUpgrade adequate to version 0.8.1 or later, or avoid running the tool as root with the --user option until the patch is applied.

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
AdequateApplication
Affected:<= 0.8= 0.1= 0.1.1= 0.2= 0.2.1= 0.3.1= 0.4= 0.4.1= 0.4.2= 0.4.3= 0.4.4= 0.5

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
High
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:L/AC:H/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 if adequate is installed
    Run 'dpkg -l adequate' or 'which adequate' to see if the package is present on the system
    Affected if adequate is installed and the version matches the affected versions (0.1 through 0.8)
  2. Determine adequate version
    Run 'dpkg -s adequate | grep Version' to retrieve the installed version number
    Affected if The version is 0.8 or earlier, including 0.1, 0.1.1, 0.2, 0.2.1, 0.3.1, 0.4, 0.4.1, 0.4.2, 0.4.3, 0.4.4, or 0.5
  3. Verify adequate is run as root
    Check if adequate is being executed with root privileges using 'whoami' or by inspecting the process owner when running adequate
    Affected if adequate is run by the root user
  4. Confirm --user option is in use
    Review the command line arguments used when invoking adequate, looking for the --user flag
    Affected if The --user option is specified when running adequate as root

A user is affected if adequate version 0.8 or earlier is installed and is being executed as root with the --user option, allowing local users to inject terminal commands via TIOCSTI ioctl.

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 0.8
Interim mitigation

Upgrade adequate to version 0.8.1 or later, or avoid running the tool as root with the --user option until the patch is applied.

Fix this in Adequate Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.

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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-2013-6409 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