CVE-2015-5602: sudoedit in Sudo before 1.8.15 allows local users to gain privileges via a symlink attack on a file whose f...

Security readout for executives and security teams

CVE-2015-5602 is a local privilege-escalation flaw in sudoedit before Sudo 1.8.15. It matters when sudoers rules allow editing a full path containing multiple wildcards. A local user could abuse symbolic links to edit files beyond the intended rule and potentially gain elevated privileges. Exposure is most likely on Unix-like systems running Sudo before 1.8.15 with sudoers entries granting sudoedit access to full paths containing multiple wildcards. Systems without such sudoers patterns, or with vendor-patched sudo packages, are less likely to be exploitable. Prioritize remediation on shared servers, developer workstations, and multi-user systems where sudoedit is delegated through wildcard rules. The issue is not remotely exploitable from the supplied evidence, but it can convert local access into higher privilege under the right configuration. Mitigation focus: Upgrade Sudo to 1.8.15 or a vendor-patched package.; Review sudoers rules granting sudoedit access to paths with multiple wildcards.; Replace broad wildcard edit rules with explicit least-privilege file paths..

Prepared

Jun 13, 2026, 21:45 UTC (UTC+00:00)

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.