CVE-2017-20002
mediumpriority · track · 31EPSS 0.004 · 35 %ileEURUUSEPSS · scored 2026-10-27
The Debian shadow package before 1:4.5-1 for Shadow incorrectly lists pts/0 and pts/1 as physical terminals in /etc/securetty. This allows local users to login as password-less users even if they are connected by non-physical means such as SSH (hence bypassing PAM's nullok_secure configuration). This notably affects environments such as virtual machines automatically generated with a default blank root password, allowing all local users to escalate privileges.
cvss
Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.
base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · medium–high · 4.6–7.8
weaknesses
The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.
affected products (9)
Products and version ranges known to be affected.
also known as (4)
Other names and identifiers for this entity.
sources
Which sources assert this record, and when.
references (12)
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=877374cnnvd
- https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=914957cnnvd
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/03/msg00020.htmlcnnvd
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-20002cnnvd
- https://vigilance.fr/vulnerability/Debian-shadow-privilege-escalation-via-pts-0-34876cnnvd
- https://www.auscert.org.au/bulletins/ESB-2021.0943cnnvd
- https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=877374enisa_euvd
- https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=914957enisa_euvd
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