CVE-2022-0563
Publication date 21 February 2022
Last updated 1 August 2025
Ubuntu priority
Description
A flaw was found in the util-linux chfn and chsh utilities when compiled with Readline support. The Readline library uses an "INPUTRC" environment variable to get a path to the library config file. When the library cannot parse the specified file, it prints an error message containing data from the file. This flaw allows an unprivileged user to read root-owned files, potentially leading to privilege escalation. This flaw affects util-linux versions prior to 2.37.4.
Status
| Package | Ubuntu Release | Status |
|---|---|---|
| util-linux | ||
| 20.04 LTS focal |
Not affected
|
|
| 18.04 LTS bionic |
Not affected
|
|
| 16.04 LTS xenial |
Not affected
|
|
| 14.04 LTS trusty |
Not affected
|
Notes
alexmurray
In Ubuntu chfn and chsh are not built from the util-linux source package but instead from the passwd package so are not affected by this vulnerability.
Severity score breakdown
CVSS version: CVSS v3.0
Base score
5.5 · Medium
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N