CVE-2015-7442
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 · uneditedconsoleinst.sh in IBM Installation Manager before 1.7.4.4 and 1.8.x before 1.8.4 and Packaging Utility before 1.7.4.4 and 1.8.x before 1.8.4 allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse program that is located in /tmp with a name based on a predicted PID value.
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 confidenceThe consoleinst.sh script in IBM Installation Manager and Packaging Utility uses a predictable filename in /tmp based on a PID value before executing. A local attacker can place a malicious Trojan horse program in /tmp with that predicted name, tricking the script into executing it with elevated privileges.
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= 1.7.4.3= 1.8.0.0= 1.8.1.0= 1.8.2.0= 1.8.2.1= 1.8.3.0<= 1.7.4.3= 1.8.0.0= 1.8.1.0= 1.8.2.0= 1.8.2.1= 1.8.3.0CVSS 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
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify IBM Installation Manager installationLocate the IBM Installation Manager installation directory and locate its version metadata (typically in installation manager's registry or metadata folders)Affected if The installed version is 1.7.4.3, 1.8.0.0, 1.8.1.0, 1.8.2.0, 1.8.2.1, or 1.8.3.0
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Identify IBM Packaging Utility installationLocate the IBM Packaging Utility installation directory and determine its version from product metadataAffected if The installed version is 1.7.4.3 or earlier, or is 1.8.0.0, 1.8.1.0, 1.8.2.0, 1.8.2.1, or 1.8.3.0
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Check consoleinst.sh script usageDetermine if the consoleinst.sh script from the installation has been or will be executed in an environment where a local attacker could predict PID values and write to /tmpAffected if The consoleinst.sh script executes and a local unprivileged user can predict the PID-based filename in /tmp and place a malicious file before script execution
You are affected if IBM Installation Manager version 1.7.4.3 through 1.8.3.0 or IBM Packaging Utility version 1.7.4.3 or earlier through 1.8.3.0 is installed and the consoleinst.sh script is used in a multi-user or shared environment where local privilege escalation is a concern.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpgrade IBM Installation Manager to version 1.7.4.4/1.8.4 or later and Packaging Utility to the corresponding fixed versions.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-7442 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-7442 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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