Sendmail 8.12.1 Configuration File -C privileges management

CVSS Meta Temp Score
CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.
Current Exploit Price (≈)
Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.
CTI Interest Score
Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
5.7$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as problematic has been detected in Sendmail 8.12.1. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality of the component Configuration File. The manipulation of the argument -C leads to privileges management. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2001-0713. An attack has to be approached locally. There is no exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in Sendmail 8.12.1 (Mail Server Software). This issue affects some unknown functionality of the component Configuration File. The manipulation of the argument -C with an unknown input leads to a privileges management vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-269. The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

Sendmail before 8.12.1 does not properly drop privileges when the -C option is used to load custom configuration files, which allows local users to gain privileges via malformed arguments in the configuration file whose names contain characters with the high bit set, such as (1) macro names that are one character long, (2) a variable setting which is processed by the setoption function, or (3) a Modifiers setting which is processed by the getmodifiers function.

The weakness was shared 10/30/2001 by Michal Zalewski with BindView (Website). It is possible to read the advisory at razor.bindview.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2001-0713. The exploitation is known to be easy. Attacking locally is a requirement. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The attack technique deployed by this issue is T1068 according to MITRE ATT&CK.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 11086 (Sendmail -C Malformed Configuration Privilege Escalation), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment. It is assigned to the family SMTP problems and running in the context r. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 74090 (Sendmail Inadequate Privilege Lowering Vulnerability).

Upgrading to version 8.12.1 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at X-Force (7192), Tenable (11086), SecurityFocus (BID 3377†) and Vulnerability Center (SBV-1665†). The entries VDB-17580 and VDB-17581 are related to this item. Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Name

Version

License

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.9
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.7

VulDB Base Score: 5.9
VulDB Temp Score: 5.7
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Privileges management
CWE: CWE-269 / CWE-266
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Nessus ID: 11086
Nessus Name: Sendmail -C Malformed Configuration Privilege Escalation
Nessus File: 🔍
Nessus Risk: 🔍
Nessus Family: 🔍
Nessus Context: 🔍

OpenVAS ID: 11086
OpenVAS Name: Sendmail custom configuration file
OpenVAS File: 🔍
OpenVAS Family: 🔍

Qualys ID: 🔍
Qualys Name: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Upgrade: Sendmail 8.12.1

Timelineinfo

10/01/2001 🔍
10/30/2001 +29 days 🔍
10/30/2001 +0 days 🔍
10/30/2001 +0 days 🔍
08/18/2002 +292 days 🔍
08/13/2003 +360 days 🔍
07/10/2014 +3984 days 🔍
10/04/2025 +4104 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Advisory: razor.bindview.com
Researcher: Michal Zalewski
Organization: BindView
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2001-0713 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2001-0713
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-17579
X-Force: 7192
SecurityFocus: 3377 - Sendmail Inadequate Privilege Lowering Vulnerability
Vulnerability Center: 1665 - Sendmail < 8.12.1 Privilege Elevation via Malformed Arguments in Configuration File, Low

See also: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 07/10/2014 11:49
Updated: 10/04/2025 23:40
Changes: 07/10/2014 11:49 (61), 05/11/2019 12:27 (12), 10/04/2025 23:40 (19)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

◂ PreviousOverviewNext ▸

Interested in the pricing of exploits?

See the underground prices here!