dbcve.org
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system · Redhat

CVE-2017-15097

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-07-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Privilege escalation flaws were found in the Red Hat initialization scripts of PostgreSQL. An attacker with access to the postgres user account could use these flaws to obtain root access on the server machine.

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

A privilege escalation vulnerability in Red Hat's PostgreSQL initialization scripts allows an attacker with access to the postgres user account to gain root privileges on the server. The flaw involves improper handling of permissions or execution context in the init scripts that run with elevated privileges.

MitigationApply the latest Red Hat PostgreSQL package updates to patch the initialization script vulnerabilities, and review the postgres user's environment and file permissions to limit escalation paths.

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
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 7.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 7.0
Enterprise Linux Server AusOperating system
Affected:= 7.4
Enterprise Linux Server EusOperating system
Affected:= 7.4= 7.5
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
Affected:= 7.0

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
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 checks

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

  1. Confirm Red Hat Enterprise Linux version
    Run 'cat /etc/redhat-release' to identify the RHEL version. Check if it matches 7.0, 7.4, or 7.5.
    Affected if The system runs RHEL 7.0, 7.4, or 7.5 (Desktop, Server, Server Aus, Server Eus, or Workstation variants).
  2. Check if PostgreSQL is installed
    Run 'rpm -qa | grep postgres' or 'which psql' to determine if PostgreSQL packages are present on the system.
    Affected if PostgreSQL server packages are installed on an affected RHEL version.
  3. Inspect PostgreSQL init script permissions
    Run 'ls -la /etc/init.d/postgresql*' or check systemd unit files in /usr/lib/systemd/system/ for postgres-related services. Examine ownership and permissions.
    Affected if The postgres user or group has write access to init scripts that run with root privileges, or init scripts are owned by postgres user.
  4. Review postgres user startup environment
    Check /var/lib/pgsql/ and /var/lib/pgsql/*/data/ for any writable scripts or configuration files that execute with elevated privileges. Run 'ls -la /var/lib/pgsql/'.
    Affected if The postgres user can modify scripts or configuration files that are executed by root-owned init scripts during service startup or restart.
  5. Check for unsafe script execution context
    Examine the init script contents in /etc/init.d/ or systemd service definitions for postgres. Look for calls to external commands or scripts that could be manipulated via PATH or library injection.
    Affected if Init scripts execute external commands without absolute paths or run as root while allowing postgres user to influence the execution environment.

A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable RHEL version (7.0, 7.4, or 7.5) with PostgreSQL installed where the postgres user has write access to init scripts, startup scripts, or environment files that execute with root privileges.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the latest Red Hat PostgreSQL package updates to patch the initialization script vulnerabilities, and review the postgres user's environment and file permissions to limit escalation paths.

Fix this in Enterprise Linux Desktop Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2017-15097 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
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