CVE-2022-31256
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 · uneditedA Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') vulnerability in a script called by the sendmail systemd service of openSUSE Factory allows local attackers to escalate from user mail to root. This issue affects: SUSE openSUSE Factory sendmail versions prior to 8.17.1-1.1.
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 confidenceThis is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the sendmail systemd service script on openSUSE Factory. The script improperly follows symbolic links (CWE-59), allowing a local attacker with user mail privileges to manipulate symlinks and execute arbitrary code as root.
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< 8.17.1-1.1CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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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Check sendmail package versionRun 'rpm -q sendmail' to retrieve the installed sendmail package versionAffected if Version is present but lower than 8.17.1-1.1 (e.g., 8.16.x or earlier)
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Verify sendmail systemd service existsRun 'systemctl cat sendmail.service' or check for sendmail.service file in /etc/systemd/system/Affected if The systemd service file exists and is older than the fixed version
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Confirm sendmail service is enabled or installedRun 'systemctl is-enabled sendmail' or check if sendmail is installed via 'rpm -qa | grep sendmail'Affected if Sendmail is installed and the service is present, indicating the vulnerable service script may be in use
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Check for user mail privilegesVerify if the local user has access to mail spool directories or is a member of the mail group via 'id' or 'groups' commandAffected if User has mail group membership or access to /var/spool/mail, which would satisfy the prerequisite for exploitation
A system is affected if sendmail is installed with a version prior to 8.17.1-1.1 on openSUSE Factory and the attacker has mail-related user privileges to manipulate symlinks in the service context.
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.
dbcve · scoped8.17.1-1.1
Update sendmail to version 8.17.1-1.1 or later, which contains the fix for the improper symlink resolution in the systemd service script.
openSUSE Factory sendmail version 8.17.1-1.1 or later
- 1. Identify the current installed sendmail version using: zypper info sendmail or rpm -qa | grep sendmail
- 2. Ensure the openSUSE Factory repository is available for updates
- 3. Update the sendmail package by running: zypper update sendmail or zypper in sendmail (to force upgrade to latest available)
- 4. Verify the installed version is 8.17.1-1.1 or later using: rpm -q sendmail
- 5. Restart the sendmail systemd service to ensure the patched scripts are active: systemctl restart sendmail
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-31256 — 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-2022-31256 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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