CriticalCVE-2015-5287

Red Hat Automatic Bug Reporting Tool Privilege Escalation Vulnerability (CVE-2015-5287)

Published 07.12.2015Last modified 26.08.2026In CISA KEV since 26.08.2026Sources: CVE.org

What is affected, what to do

The abrt-hook-ccpp help program in Automatic Bug Reporting Tool (ABRT) before 2.7.1 allows local users with certain permissions to gain privileges via a symlink attack on a file with a predictable name, as demonstrated by /var/tmp/abrt/abrt-hax-coredump or /var/spool/abrt/abrt-hax-coredump.

The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. The available sources name no fixed version. Check the vendor guidance in the references below. Immediate actions, mitigation and detection rules are in the runbook below.

Affected: ABRT lte *..2.7.0
Oracle Linux eq 7..7
Redhat Enterprise Linux eq 6.0..6.0
Redhat Enterprise Linux eq 7.0..7.0
Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop eq 7.0..7.0
RedHat Enterprise Linux HPC Node eq 7.0..7.0
Redhat Enterprise Linux Server eq 7.0..7.0
Redhat Enterprise Linux Workstation eq 7.0..7.0

Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

Metrics

7.8

Priority

XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

Source: NVD, CVSS v3

7.8

CVSS v3

Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.

Source: CVE.org

5.0 %

EPSS score

Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.

Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 92.3

Show all metrics

Severity: Critical
Priority (0–325) The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first? Read in glossary: 207.10 Methodology
Exploit maturity An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack. Read in glossary: actively exploited
XIEM Effective CVSS XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command. Read in glossary: 7.8 Methodology
CVSS v3 CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions. Read in glossary: 7.8
EPSS score The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“. Read in glossary: 5.0 %; Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.
EPSS percentile The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking. Read in glossary: 92.3; Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
KEV status The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching. Read in glossary: Actively exploited
Published: 07.12.2015
In CISA KEV since The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching. Read in glossary: 26.08.2026
CISA assessment (SSVC): Exploitation: active · not automatable · Technical impact: total; Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 26 August 2026
CWE CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect. Read in glossary: CWE-59

Response and mitigation

Why act now?

Prioritisation rationale

This is a local privilege escalation to root that needs only low privileges and no user interaction. The exploitation technique is well documented and reliable. Attackers typically chain it as a second stage after gaining a foothold through a web shell, stolen SSH credentials or a compromised service account. Exploitation likelihood is well above the CVE population average, and CISA does not flag known ransomware use. The typical exposure is legacy, often end-of-life RHEL or Oracle Linux estates running production or KRITIS-adjacent workloads. Treat multi-user and internet-facing Linux servers as urgent, with remediation within days. Single-purpose, tightly controlled hosts can follow the normal patch cycle once the hook is disabled.

01
Runbook step 1
Immediate response (0-24 h)
- Inventory: On all RHEL, Oracle Linux and CentOS-family hosts, check the installed ABRT packages with rpm -q abrt abrt-addon-ccpp. ABRT before 2.7.1 is affected; the context names 2.7.0 explicitly. Red Hat frequently backports fixes, so compare against the relevant erratum rather than the upstream version string. A patch is available from the vendor – look up the fixed package version in the vendor advisory.
- Patch: Run yum update abrt\* or dnf update abrt\* on every supported system, then restart abrtd and abrt-ccpp.
- End-of-life releases: Where the release no longer receives updates, kill the core-dump hook now with systemctl disable --now abrt-ccpp.service abrtd.service. Confirm that cat /proc/sys/kernel/core_pattern no longer shows |/usr/libexec/abrt-hook-ccpp; otherwise run sysctl -w kernel.core_pattern=core. Schedule these hosts for migration or retirement, as CISA advises.
- Prioritise by exposure: Handle multi-user systems first: jump and shell hosts, HPC nodes, CI runners, and web servers that execute scripts. On these, unprivileged local accounts or compromised service accounts can trigger the flaw.
- Compromise check: Hunt for the predictable artefact in both ABRT directories with find /var/tmp/abrt /var/spool/abrt -name '*abrt-hax*' -ls. Any hit means isolate the host and preserve evidence.
02
Runbook step 2
Mitigation layers
- Kernel hardening: Set fs.protected_symlinks=1 and fs.protected_hardlinks=1 persistently in /etc/sysctl.d/. This blocks following attacker-owned symlinks in world-writable sticky directories such as /var/tmp.
- Attack-surface reduction: On servers that don't need automated crash reporting, remove the hook entirely with yum remove abrt-addon-ccpp. Also restrict core dumps with * hard core 0 in /etc/security/limits.conf and fs.suid_dumpable=0.
- IAM / least privilege: Minimise interactive shell access. Give service accounts /sbin/nologin. Route all interactive sessions to affected hosts through a PAM-controlled bastion.
- Mandatory access control: Keep SELinux in enforcing mode (check with getenforce). The abrt_t domain constrains the hook's writes and makes exploitation harder. Treat any setenforce 0 as an exception that needs alerting.
- Filesystem: Mount /var/tmp as a separate filesystem with nosuid,nodev, so SUID artefacts dropped there cannot be executed.
03
Runbook step 3
Detection rules
- auditd watches on ABRT paths: Add -w /var/tmp/abrt -p wa -k abrt_symlink and -w /var/spool/abrt -p wa -k abrt_symlink, plus -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S symlink,symlinkat -F dir=/var/tmp -k tmp_symlink. SPL: index=linux sourcetype=linux:audit key IN (abrt_symlink,tmp_symlink) name="*abrt-hax-coredump*".
- Sigma shape: logsource: product=linux, service=auditd, selection: type=SYSCALL, syscall IN (symlink,symlinkat), uid!=0, a1|contains: 'abrt'. Correlate it with a follow-on write by exe=/usr/libexec/abrt-hook-ccpp to any path outside /var/spool/abrt or /var/tmp/abrt.
- EDR process ancestry: A user process crashes deliberately (SIGSEGV/SIGABRT), abrt-hook-ccpp then runs as root, and shortly afterwards a root shell (/bin/sh, /bin/bash) appears in the same session or new SUID binaries show up. Hunt with find / -xdev -perm -4000 -newermt '-2 days' -ls.
- Critical file integrity: Use AIDE, Tripwire or auditd to watch /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, /etc/sudoers*, /etc/cron* and /etc/ld.so.preload. Any modification attributed to exe=/usr/libexec/abrt-hook-ccpp is a near-certain exploitation signal.
- Config drift: Alert on changes to kernel.core_pattern or fs.protected_symlinks, either with auditd -w /proc/sys/kernel/core_pattern -p w or through periodic checks in configuration management.

Detection rules

No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

Classification under NIS2 and CRA

Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

NIS2 NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management. Read in glossary: Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
CRA The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates. Read in glossary: Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
ISO/IEC 27001 ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security. Read in glossary: Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

Description

Source: CISA KEV Catalog, cvelistv5, NVD (NIST)

Affected products

The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

Affected products
		Affected versions	Fixed in
redhat	automatic_bug_reporting_tool	`≤ 2.7.0`	—

Vendors and products

Affected operating systems

Affected operating systems

Linux	redhat	enterprise_linux	`6.0`
Linux	redhat	enterprise_linux	`7.0`
Linux	redhat	enterprise_linux_desktop	`7.0`
Linux	redhat	enterprise_linux_hpc_node	`7.0`
Linux	redhat	enterprise_linux_server	`7.0`
Linux	redhat	enterprise_linux_workstation	`7.0`
Linux	oracle	linux	`7`

Weakness classes (CWE)

CWE-59Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
Base
The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.
Entry at MITRE CWE-59

Public exploit references

Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.

Public exploit references

CISA KEV Catalog	CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)cisa.gov	actively exploited	26.08.2026
Packet Storm	ABRT sosreport Privilege Escalation (opens in a new tab)packetstormsecurity.com	PoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified	—
Exploit-DB	EDB-ID 38832 (opens in a new tab)exploit-db.com	PoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified	—
PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)	CVE-2015-5287 (opens in a new tab)github.com	PoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified	27.08.2026

References & sources

rhn.redhat.comRHSA-2015:2505Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
exploit-db.com38832Exploit, x_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB
openwall.com[oss-security] 20151201 CVE-2015-5273 + CVE-2015-5287, abrt local root in Centos/Fedora/RHELMailing list, x_refsource_MLIST
oracle.comtechnetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinoct2015-2719645.htmlx_refsource_CONFIRM
bugzilla.redhat.comshow_bug.cgi?id=1266837x_refsource_CONFIRM
securityfocus.com78137Vulnerability database, x_refsource_BID
github.comabrt/abrt/commit/3c1b60cfa62d39e5fff5a53a5bc53dae189e740ex_refsource_CONFIRM
packetstormsecurity.comfiles/154592/ABRT-sosreport-Privilege-Escalation.htmlx_refsource_MISC
blog.talosintelligence.comuat-10147-chinese-speaking-adversary-integrates-agentic-ai-into…Third-party advisory
cisa.govknown-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2015-5287government-resource

Changes to this CVE

Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

26.08.2026CISA KEV entry updated9119a7d8…
4 individual changes: Date Added, Due Date, Required Action, Vulnerability Name
Show 4 original changes
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
Type Action Before After
Date Added added
—
2026-08-26
Due Date added
—
2026-08-26
Required Action added
—
2026-08-26
Vulnerability Name added
—
2026-08-26
Source identifier: 9119a7d8-5eab-497f-8521-727c672e3725

Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
Type	Action	Before	After
Date Added	added	—	2026-08-26
Due Date	added	—	2026-08-26
Required Action	added	—	2026-08-26
Vulnerability Name	added	—	2026-08-26

26.08.2026Record modifiedRed Hat

New references:

and 4 more references

Show 19 original changes

Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
Type	Action	Before	After
Reference	added	—	http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154592/ABRT-sosreport-Privilege-Escalation.html
Reference	added	—	http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-2505.html
Reference	added	—	http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/12/01/1
Reference	added	—	http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinoct2015-2719645.html
Reference	added	—	http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/78137
Reference	added	—	https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1266837
Reference	added	—	https://github.com/abrt/abrt/commit/3c1b60cfa62d39e5fff5a53a5bc53dae189e740e
Reference	added	—	https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/38832/
Reference	removed	http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154592/ABRT-sosreport-Privilege-Escalation.html	—
Reference	removed	http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-2505.html	—
Reference	removed	http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/12/01/1	—
Reference	removed	http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinoct2015-2719645.html	—
Reference	removed	http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/78137	—
Reference	removed	https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1266837	—
Reference	removed	https://github.com/abrt/abrt/commit/3c1b60cfa62d39e5fff5a53a5bc53dae189e740e	—
Reference	removed	https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/38832/	—
Reference type	removed	http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-2505.html Types: Vendor Advisory	—
Reference type	removed	http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/12/01/1 Types: Exploit	—
Reference type	removed	https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1266837 Types: Exploit	—

Source identifier: secalert@redhat.com

26.08.2026Record modifiedCISA ADP

CVSS V3.1: AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CISA assessment (SSVC): exploitation: active, automatable: no

Weakness type: CWE-59

New references:

Show 5 original changes

Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
Type	Action	Before	After
CVSS	added	—	AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness type (CWE)	added	—	CWE-59
Reference	added	—	https://blog.talosintelligence.com/uat-10147-chinese-speaking-adversary-integrates-agentic-ai-into-post-compromise-operations/
Reference	added	—	https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2015-5287
SSVC assessment	added	—	{"id":"CVE-2015-5287","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"active"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-08-26T17:44:17.462947Z"}

Source identifier: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

26.08.2026Record modifiedCVE Program

New references:

and 4 more references

Show 19 original changes

Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
Type	Action	Before	After
Reference	added	—	http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154592/ABRT-sosreport-Privilege-Escalation.html
Reference	added	—	http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-2505.html
Reference	added	—	http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/12/01/1
Reference	added	—	http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinoct2015-2719645.html
Reference	added	—	http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/78137
Reference	added	—	https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1266837
Reference	added	—	https://github.com/abrt/abrt/commit/3c1b60cfa62d39e5fff5a53a5bc53dae189e740e
Reference	added	—	https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/38832/
Reference	removed	http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154592/ABRT-sosreport-Privilege-Escalation.html	—
Reference	removed	http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-2505.html	—
Reference	removed	http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/12/01/1	—
Reference	removed	http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinoct2015-2719645.html	—
Reference	removed	http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/78137	—
Reference	removed	https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1266837	—
Reference	removed	https://github.com/abrt/abrt/commit/3c1b60cfa62d39e5fff5a53a5bc53dae189e740e	—
Reference	removed	https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/38832/	—
Reference type	removed	http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-2505.html Types: Vendor Advisory	—
Reference type	removed	http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/12/01/1 Types: Exploit	—
Reference type	removed	https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1266837 Types: Exploit	—

Source identifier: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108

Linked advisories

CISA Adds 10 CVEs to Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, Five with Three-day Mitigation DeadlinesSANS NewsBites28.08.2026

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What is affected, what to do

Metrics

Response and mitigation

Prioritisation rationale

Immediate response (0-24 h)

Mitigation layers

Detection rules

Detection rules

Classification under NIS2 and CRA

Description

Affected products

Vendors and products

Affected operating systems

Weakness classes (CWE)

Public exploit references

References & sources

Changes to this CVE

Linked advisories