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HIGH

CVE-2023-26604

CVSS v3

7.8

HIGH

EPSS Score

1.1 %

exploit probability, as of 2026-10-19

CISA KEV

No

known exploited

Exploitation

—

SSVC status

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Affected and fixed versions

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Packages

  • systemdAlmaLinux:8all versions · fixed in 239-74.el8_8.2and 7 other packages

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2023-26604 Red Hat Product Security224 products fixed

    systemd: privilege escalation via the less pager

  • RHSA-2024:7705 Red Hat Product Security70 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: systemd security update

  • RHSA-2024:1105 Red Hat Product Security77 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: systemd security update

  • ICSA-23-348-10 CISA5 known affected

    Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500

    SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4AX00-1AB0) · SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4AX00-1AC0) · SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4FX00-1AB0)

  • SSA-398330 Siemens ProductCERT5 known affected

    SSA-398330: Vulnerabilities in the additional GNU/Linux subsystem of the SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518(F)-4 PN/DP MFP >= V3.1.0 and < V3.1.5

    SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4AX00-1AB0) >= V3.1.0 < V3.1.5 · SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4AX00-1AC0) >= V3.1.0 < V3.1.5 · SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4FX00-1AB0) >= V3.1.0 < V3.1.5

  • RHSA-2023:3837 Red Hat Product Security77 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: systemd security and bug fix update

Full record on NVD

Description

systemd before 247 does not adequately block local privilege escalation for some Sudo configurations, e.g., plausible sudoers files in which the "systemctl status" command may be executed. Specifically, systemd does not set LESSSECURE to 1, and thus other programs may be launched from the less program. This presents a substantial security risk when running systemctl from Sudo, because less executes as root when the terminal size is too small to show the complete systemctl output.

Technical details

Published
2023-03-03

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-26604?

systemd before 247 does not adequately block local privilege escalation for some Sudo configurations, e.g., plausible sudoers files in which the "systemctl status" command may be executed. Specifically, systemd does not set LESSSECURE to 1, and thus other programs may be launched from the less program. This presents a substantial security risk when running systemctl from Sudo, because less executes as root when the terminal size is too small to show the complete systemctl output.

Is CVE-2023-26604 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2023-26604 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 1.1% on 2026-10-19, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-26604?

CVE-2023-26604 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8 (HIGH severity).

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