CVE-2023-3899: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 · Improper Authorization
Affects Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7Source CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 08:30 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 15% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 23 Aug 2023
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.
What to do
AI-suggested
Organizations should prioritize applying official patches from Red Hat as soon as they become available to address this vulnerability. In the interim, restricting local user access to trusted personnel only and enforcing strict access controls can reduce the attack surface. Monitoring and auditing D-Bus interface calls related to com.redhat.RHSM1 can help detect suspicious activity indicative of exploitation attempts. Additionally, consider implementing mandatory access control policies (e.g., SELinux) to confine subscription-manager processes and limit their ability to modify critical configuration files. Regularly review and harden system configurations to prevent unauthorized local access. Employing endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to monitor privilege escalation attempts can also enhance detection capabilities. Finally, educating system administrators about this vulnerability and ensuring timely updates in security policies is essential.
Description
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.
References
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:4701 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:4702 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:4703 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:4704 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:4705 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:4706 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:4707 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:4708 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-3899 (opens in a new tab)
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2225407 (opens in a new tab)
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/FJHKSBBZRDFOBNDU35FUKMYQIQYT6UJQ/ (opens in a new tab)
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ZDIHGNLS3TZVX7X2F735OKI4KXPY4AH6/ (opens in a new tab)