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    Dashboard / CVE / CVE-2021-4034

    CVE-2021-4034

    A local privilege escalation vulnerability was found on polkit's pkexec utility. The pkexec application is a setuid tool designed to allow unprivileged users to run commands as privileged users according predefined policies. The current version of pkexec doesn't handle the calling parameters count correctly and ends trying to execute environment variables as commands. An attacker can leverage this by crafting environment variables in such a way it'll induce pkexec to execute arbitrary code. When successfully executed the attack can cause a local privilege escalation given unprivileged users administrative rights on the target machine.

    Published:Jan 25, 2022
    Last Modified:Nov 6, 2025
    EPS:Jan 28, 2022
    EPSS Score:0.83929
    CVSS Score:7.8

    CISA Notification

    Description

    A local privilege escalation vulnerability was found on polkit's pkexec utility. The pkexec application is a setuid tool designed to allow unprivileged users to run commands as privileged users according predefined policies. The current version of pkexec doesn't handle the calling parameters count correctly and ends trying to execute environment variables as commands. An attacker can leverage this by crafting environment variables in such a way it'll induce pkexec to execute arbitrary code. When successfully executed the attack can cause a local privilege escalation given unprivileged users administrative rights on the target machine.

    Required Action:

    Apply updates per vendor instructions.

    Notes:

    No extra notes provided.

    Due Date
    Jul 18, 2022
    1516 days ago
    Alert Date
    Jun 27, 2022
    1537 days ago

    Affected Products

    Vendor
    Canonical
    Product
    Ubuntu Linux
    Vendor
    Oracle
    Product
    Http Server
    Vendor
    Oracle
    Product
    Zfs Storage Appliance Kit
    Vendor
    Polkit Project
    Product
    Polkit
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Enterprise Linux
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Enterprise Linux Desktop
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Enterprise Linux Eus
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Enterprise Linux For Ibm Z Systems
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Enterprise Linux For Ibm Z Systems Eus
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Enterprise Linux For Power Big Endian
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Enterprise Linux For Power Little Endian
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Enterprise Linux For Power Little Endian Eus
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Enterprise Linux For Scientific Computing
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Enterprise Linux Server
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Enterprise Linux Server Aus
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Enterprise Linux Server Eus
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Enterprise Linux Server Tus
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Enterprise Linux Server Update Services For Sap Solutions
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Enterprise Linux Workstation
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Rhel Aus
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Rhel E4s
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Rhel Els
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Rhel Eus
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Rhel Tus
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Rhev Hypervisor
    Vendor
    Siemens
    Product
    Scalance Lpe9403
    Vendor
    Siemens
    Product
    Scalance Lpe9403 Firmware
    Vendor
    Siemens
    Product
    Sinumerik Edge
    Vendor
    Starwindsoftware
    Product
    Command Center
    Vendor
    Starwindsoftware
    Product
    Starwind Virtual San
    Vendor
    Suse
    Product
    Enterprise Storage
    Vendor
    Suse
    Product
    Linux Enterprise Desktop
    Vendor
    Suse
    Product
    Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing
    Vendor
    Suse
    Product
    Linux Enterprise Server
    Vendor
    Suse
    Product
    Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension
    Vendor
    Suse
    Product
    Manager Proxy
    Vendor
    Suse
    Product
    Manager Server

    Exploits

    http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/166196/Polkit-pkexec-Local-Privilege-Escalation.htmlhttps://www.qualys.com/2022/01/25/cve-2021-4034/pwnkit.txthttps://www.secpod.com/blog/local-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-in-major-linux-distributions-cve-2021-4034/http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/166196/Polkit-pkexec-Local-Privilege-Escalation.htmlhttps://www.qualys.com/2022/01/25/cve-2021-4034/pwnkit.txthttps://www.secpod.com/blog/local-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-in-major-linux-distributions-cve-2021-4034/https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/pwnkit-pkexec-lpe-cve-2021-4034https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/50689https://github.com/0x01-sec/CVE-2021-4034-https://github.com/0x05a/my-cve-2021-4034-pochttps://github.com/0x4ndy/CVE-2021-4034-PoChttps://github.com/12bijaya/CVE-2021-4034-PwnKit-https://github.com/A1vinSmith/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Abbykito/KERNELexploitshttps://github.com/Al1ex/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Allu-mette/cve-2021-4034https://github.com/Almorabea/pkexec-exploithttps://github.com/An00bRektn/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/an0n7os/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Ankit-Ojha16/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Anonymous-Family/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/antoinenguyen-09/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/artemis-mike/cve-2021-4034https://github.com/arthepsy/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/asepsaepdin/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/ASG-CASTLE/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/ashutoshrohilla/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/AsierEgana/cve-2021-4034https://github.com/Audiobahn/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/aus-mate/CVE-2021-4034-POChttps://github.com/ayoub-elbouzi/CVE-2021-4034-Pwnkithttps://github.com/Ayrx/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/ayypril/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/azminawwar/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/B1gN0Se/PwnKit_CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/berdav/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/boro03/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/BugVex/Poison-HTB-Reporthttps://github.com/c3c/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/c3l3si4n/pwnkithttps://github.com/callrbx/pkexec-lpe-pochttps://github.com/cd80-ctf/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/cdxiaodong/CVE-2021-4034-touchhttps://github.com/cerodah/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/chenaotian/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/ck00004/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/clubby789/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/codiobert/pwnkit-scannerhttps://github.com/CronoX1/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/cspshivam/cve-2021-4034https://github.com/CYB3RK1D/CVE-2021-4034-POChttps://github.com/dadvlingd/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/DanaEpp/pwncat_pwnkithttps://github.com/defhacks/cve-2021-4034https://github.com/deoxykev/CVE-2021-4034-Rusthttps://github.com/devianntsec/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/dh4r4/PwnKit-CVE-2021-4034-https://github.com/DosAmp/pkwnedhttps://github.com/dr4xp/pwnkit-helperhttps://github.com/drapl0n/pwnKithttps://github.com/dzonerzy/poc-cve-2021-4034https://github.com/edsonjt81/CVE-2021-4034-Linuxhttps://github.com/EstamelGG/CVE-2021-4034-NoGCChttps://github.com/EuJin03/CVE-2021-4034-PoChttps://github.com/evdenis/lsm_bpf_check_argc0https://github.com/evkl1d/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/FancySauce/PwnKit-CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Fato07/Pwnkit-exploithttps://github.com/fdellwing/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/FDlucifer/Pwnkit-gohttps://github.com/fei9747/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/fnknda/CVE-2021-4034_POChttps://github.com/G01d3nW01f/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/galoget/PwnKit-CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/gbrsh/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Geni0r/cve-2021-4034-pochttps://github.com/glowbase/PwnKit-CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/h3x0v3rl0rd/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/h3x0v3rl0rd/CVE-2021-4034_Python3https://github.com/hahaleyile/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/HellGateCorp/pwnkithttps://github.com/hohn/codeql-sample-polkithttps://github.com/HrishitJoshi/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/igonzalez357/CVE-2021-4034-PwnKit-https://github.com/ikerSandoval003/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Immersive-Labs-Sec/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/ITMarcin2211/Polkit-s-Pkexec-CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/iurhfiu6/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/jayhutajulu1/PwnKit-CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/jcatala/f_poc_cve-2021-4034https://github.com/jehovah2002/CVE-2021-4034-pwnkithttps://github.com/Jesrat/make_me_roothttps://github.com/joeammond/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Joffr3y/Polkit-CVE-2021-4034-HLPhttps://github.com/JohnGilbert57/CVE-2021-4034-Capture-the-flaghttps://github.com/JohnHammond/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/jostmart/-CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/JoyGhoshs/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/jpmcb/pwnkit-gohttps://github.com/jscamposx/hackhttps://github.com/kaisen-bot/pwnkit-helperhttps://github.com/kali-guru/Pwnkit-CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/kimusan/pkwnerhttps://github.com/Kirill89/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/krleejihyeong/WHS4_CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Leemyunglyul/cve-2021-4034-mockhttps://github.com/LJP-TW/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/locksec/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/LucasPDiniz/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/luckythandel/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/luijait/PwnKit-Exploithttps://github.com/LukeGix/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/ly4k/PwnKithttps://github.com/mac3d0/CVE-2021-4034-pwnkithttps://github.com/marcosChoucino/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/mebeim/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Milad-Rafie/PwnKit-Local-Privilege-Escalation-Vulnerability-Discovered-in-polkit-s-pkexec-CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/milot/dissecting-pkexec-cve-2021-4034https://github.com/moldabekov/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/movvamrocks/PwnKit-CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Murguii/DEV-CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/mutur4/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/N1et/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/nagorealbisu/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/navisec/CVE-2021-4034-PwnKithttps://github.com/nel0x/pwnkit-vulnerabilityhttps://github.com/NeonWhiteRabbit/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Nero22k/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/nicoibarburu/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/nikaiw/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/nikip72/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/NiS3x/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/nobelh/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Nosferatuvjr/PwnKithttps://github.com/NULL0B/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/oreosec/pwnkithttps://github.com/OXDBXKXO/ez-pwnkithttps://github.com/Part01-Pai/Polkit-Permission-promotion-compiledhttps://github.com/pengalaman-1t/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/PeterGottesman/pwnkit-exploithttps://github.com/phvilasboas/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Pixailz/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Plethore/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Pol-Ruiz/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/pombredanne/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/ps-interactive/lab_cve-2021-4034-polkit-emulation-and-detectionhttps://github.com/PwnFunction/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/pyhrr0/pwnkithttps://github.com/qq224015/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/radzek15/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/radzek15/Python-Pwnkit-CVE-2021-4034-exploithttps://github.com/RakhithJK/CVE-2021-4034-newhttps://github.com/ramahmdr/PwnKithttps://github.com/rhin0cer0s/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/robemmerson/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/rusakalimantan/PwnKit-CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/rvizx/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Rvn0xsy/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/rvzsec/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/ryaagard/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/san3ncrypt3d/CVE-2021-4034-POChttps://github.com/scent2d/PoC-CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Silencecyber/cve-2021-4034https://github.com/silocityit/cve-2021-4034-playgroundhttps://github.com/sofire/polkit-0.96-CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Squirre17/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/sunny0day/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/supportingmx/cve-2021-4034https://github.com/tachote/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/tahaafarooq/poppyhttps://github.com/Tanmay-N/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/TanmoyG1800/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/teelrabbit/Polkit-pkexec-exploit-for-Linuxhttps://github.com/thatstraw/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/TheJoyOfHacking/berdav-CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/toecesws/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/TomSgn/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/TotallyNotAHaxxer/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/TW-D/PwnKit-Vulnerability_CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/tzwlhack/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/usmansec/-CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/vaibhavkrishna12004/ubuntu-privesc-labhttps://github.com/vilasboasph/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/vorkampfer/pwnkit_safety_checkhttps://github.com/v-rzh/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/wechicken456/CVE-2021-4034-CTF-writeuphttps://github.com/whokilleddb/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/wongwaituck/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/wudicainiao/cve-2021-4034https://github.com/x04000/AutoPwnkithttps://github.com/x04000/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/xcanwin/CVE-2021-4034-UniontechOShttps://github.com/X-Projetion/Exploiting-PwnKit-CVE-2021-4034-https://github.com/Y3A/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Yakumwamba/POC-CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Z3R0-0x30/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/Z3R0space/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/zaaraZiof0/pkexec-exploit-CVEhttps://github.com/zcrosman/cve-2021-4034https://github.com/zhzyker/CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/ziadsaleemi/polkit_CVE-2021-4034https://github.com/zxybfq/CVE-2021-4034

    Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

    Related CVEs

    References

    Common Vulnerability Scoring System

    Attack Vector
    Network
    Adjacent
    Local
    Physical
    Privileges Required
    None
    Low
    High
    User Interaction
    None
    Required
    Scope
    Unchanged
    Changed
    Confidentiality
    None
    Low
    High
    Integrity
    None
    Low
    High
    Availability
    None
    Low
    High