Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This is a local privilege escalation issue in Gentoo’s man-db packaging before 2.8.5. A user with access to the man account could potentially turn a root-run mandb path into root privileges. It is not a remote internet-facing bug, but it matters on shared Gentoo systems.
Executive priority
Treat as high priority for shared Gentoo servers and lower priority for single-user or non-Gentoo systems. It is local-only, but a successful attack could become full root control.
Technical view
The CVE describes /usr/bin/mandb being executed by root while not owned by root on affected Gentoo man-db versions before 2.8.5. The weakness maps to CWE-250 and has CVSS 7.8 because successful local abuse could affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability as root.
Likely exposure
Exposure appears limited to Gentoo systems running affected man-db packaging before 2.8.5, especially shared hosts where local users or the man account are reachable. The bundle does not identify non-Gentoo affected products.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. The attack requires local access and low privileges, specifically access involving the man user account, so risk is highest where untrusted users have shell access.
Researcher notes
Key evidence is narrow: Gentoo advisory plus CVE text. The affected CPE data is not populated in the bundle, so validation should rely on Gentoo package state and GLSA-202310-08 rather than broad product assumptions.
Mitigation direction
- Apply Gentoo’s GLSA-202310-08 guidance for affected man-db packages.
- Upgrade man-db to a non-affected Gentoo package version.
- Restrict local access on shared Gentoo systems until remediated.
- Review vendor guidance before changing permissions manually.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Gentoo hosts with man-db installed.
- Check whether man-db is older than 2.8.5 on Gentoo systems.
- Verify /usr/bin/mandb ownership matches the vendor package state.
- Confirm remediation through package manager audit results.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-250: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2018-25078 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://bugs.gentoo.org/662438CVE reference
- GLSA-202310-08CVE reference · vendor-advisory
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Execution with Unnecessary Privileges
Execution with Unnecessary Privileges represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.