Analyst readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2023-6917 is a local privilege escalation risk in Red Hat’s Performance Co-Pilot package. Some PCP services run with limited privileges while others run as root. If root-level PCP processes use directories controlled by the lower-privileged pcp user, an attacker with that access may be able to escalate to root.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate patching item. It is not presented as internet-exploitable or actively exploited, but it can turn limited local PCP access into root. Address during normal Linux security maintenance, faster for shared systems or environments with many local users.
Technical view
The issue is unsafe directory handling across mixed PCP service privilege levels, mapped to CWE-367. Red Hat describes potential PCP-user-to-root escalation, particularly through symlink-style race conditions. CVSS 3.1 is 6.0: local attack, low complexity, high privileges required, no user interaction, high confidentiality and integrity impact.
Likely exposure
Most relevant exposure is Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems running the pcp package, especially RHEL 8 and RHEL 9. The bundle marks RHEL 9 package 0:6.2.0-1.el9 affected and RHEL 8 affected. RHEL 6 and 7 status is listed as unknown.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. Exploitation requires local high-privileged access to the pcp context, so this is less urgent than remote unauthenticated flaws but important on shared, monitored, or multi-user Linux systems.
Researcher notes
Key unknowns remain: the bundle does not include proof-of-concept detail, exploit telemetry, or full fixed-version boundaries. The core audit focus is privilege separation between PCP systemd services and any root process interaction with pcp-owned directory trees.
Mitigation direction
- Apply Red Hat fixes from RHSA-2024:2213 where applicable.
- Check Red Hat CVE guidance for exact package remediation by platform.
- Prioritize systems where PCP is installed and local users have shell access.
- If PCP is unnecessary, review vendor-supported options to disable or remove it.
Validation and detection
- Inventory RHEL hosts for installed pcp packages and enabled PCP services.
- Compare RHEL versions and pcp package versions with Red Hat advisory data.
- Confirm affected hosts received RHSA-2024:2213 or later applicable fixes.
- Track RHEL 6 and 7 separately because the bundle lists status as unknown.
Public sources used
Based on public source material and reviewed before publication.
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-367: 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 lookupPrivilege behavior lookup
The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2023-6917 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
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
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:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N0.85.2Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- RHSA-2024:2213CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-6917CVE reference · vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHBZ#2254983CVE reference · issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT
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.
Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition
Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.
