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Subscription ManagerApplication · Redhat

CVE-2023-3899

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-08-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.28.39 / 1.29.37 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
A vulnerability was found in subscription-manager that allows local privilege escalation due to inadequate authorization. The D-Bus interface com.redhat.RHSM1 exposes a significant number of methods to all users that could change the state of the registration. By using the com.redhat.RHSM1.Config.SetAll() method, a low-privileged local user could tamper with the state of the registration, by unregistering the system or by changing the current entitlements. This flaw allows an attacker to set arbitrary configuration directives for /etc/rhsm/rhsm.conf, which can be abused to cause a local privilege escalation to an unconfined root.

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

The subscription-manager D-Bus interface (com.redhat.RHSM1) exposes the Config.SetAll() method to all local users without proper authorization, allowing any user to write arbitrary configuration to /etc/rhsm/rhsm.conf. By manipulating configuration directives, an attacker can escalate privileges to unconfined root.

MitigationRestrict access to the com.redhat.RHSM1 D-Bus interface by implementing appropriate D-Bus policy files to limit method calls to privileged users, or update subscription-manager to a version that includes proper authorization checks.

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
Subscription ManagerApplication
Affected:< 1.28.39>= 1.29.0, < 1.29.37
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 37= 38
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0= 9.0
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 7.0
Enterprise Linux EusOperating system
Affected:= 8.6= 8.8= 9.0= 9.2
Enterprise Linux For Arm 64Operating system
Affected:= 8.0= 9.0= 9.2
Enterprise Linux For Arm 64 EusOperating system
Affected:= 8.6= 8.8= 9.0= 9.2
Enterprise Linux For Ibm Z SystemsOperating system
Affected:= 7.0= 8.0= 9.0= 9.2

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
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 checks

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

  1. Verify subscription-manager is installed
    Run: rpm -qa | grep -i subscription-manager
    Affected if The package is not installed, the system is not affected by this specific vulnerability.
  2. Check installed subscription-manager version
    Run: rpm -q --queryformat '%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}' subscription-manager 2>/dev/null or check /usr/bin/subscription-manager --version
    Affected if Version falls within < 1.28.39 or >= 1.29.0 and < 1.29.37, indicating the system is potentially affected.
  3. Verify D-Bus service is active
    Run: systemctl status rhsm.service 2>/dev/null || systemctl list-units --type=service | grep -i rhsm
    Affected if The D-Bus service is not running or does not exist, the attack surface is not present.
  4. Check if D-Bus interface is exposed to unprivileged users
    Run: busctl introspect com.redhat.RHSM1 /com/redhat/RHSM1/Config 2>/dev/null || dbus-send --system --dest=com.redhat.RHSM1 --print-reply /com/redhat/RHSM1/Config org.freedesktop.DBus.Introspectable.Introspect
    Affected if Config.SetAll method is visible and accessible without authentication, the system is vulnerable.
  5. Verify configuration file permissions
    Check: ls -la /etc/rhsm/rhsm.conf
    Affected if The file is world-writable or owned by an unprivileged user, exploitation is possible.

A system is affected if subscription-manager version is below 1.28.39 or between 1.29.0 and 1.29.37, and the D-Bus RHSM1 interface is accessible to unprivileged users allowing them to call Config.SetAll.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.28.39 / 1.29.37 or later
Fixed in 1.28.391.29.37
Interim mitigation

Restrict access to the com.redhat.RHSM1 D-Bus interface by implementing appropriate D-Bus policy files to limit method calls to privileged users, or update subscription-manager to a version that includes proper authorization checks.

Recommended fix High confidence

subscription-manager >= 1.28.39 (for 1.28.x branch) or subscription-manager >= 1.29.37 (for 1.29.x branch)

  1. Verify the current subscription-manager version by running: rpm -q subscription-manager
  2. For RHEL systems, update the package using: sudo dnf update subscription-manager or sudo yum update subscription-manager
  3. For Fedora systems, update using: sudo dnf update subscription-manager
  4. After update, verify the new version is >= 1.28.39 or >= 1.29.37 using: rpm -q subscription-manager
  5. Reboot may be required for the updated D-Bus service to take effect

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Subscription Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

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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-2023-3899 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