Skip to content
Fencer Intel
high 7.2

CVE-2010-4170 json

The staprun runtime tool in SystemTap 1.3 does not properly clear the environment before executing modprobe, which allows local users to ga…

published 2010-12-07 15 y ago modified 2026-06-16 4 mo ago also EUVD-2010-4146

cvss
7.2
version 2.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
5.8%
EPSS 5.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 93%
public exploits
3
Metasploit, Exploit-DB

Summary

The staprun runtime tool in SystemTap 1.3 does not properly clear the environment before executing modprobe, which allows local users to gain privileges by setting the MODPROBE_OPTIONS environment variable to specify a malicious configuration file.

Patch / fix

  • systemtap Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 1.2-3

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2010-4170

  • systemtap RHEL 4 0.6.2-2.el4_8.3
  • systemtap-runtime RHEL 4 0.6.2-2.el4_8.3
  • systemtap-testsuite RHEL 4 0.6.2-2.el4_8.3
  • systemtap RHEL 5 1.1-3.el5_5.3
  • systemtap RHEL 6 1.2-11.el6_0
  • systemtap-client RHEL 5 1.1-3.el5_5.3
  • systemtap-client RHEL 6 1.2-11.el6_0
  • systemtap-server RHEL 5 1.1-3.el5_5.3

red hat advisories RHSA-2010:0895RHSA-2010:0894

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2010-4170 updated cvss 6.0

Systemtap: Insecure loading of modules

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (v. 5 server) systemtap 1.1-3.el5_5.3, systemtap-client 1.1-3.el5_5.3, systemtap-server 1.1-3.el5_5.3, systemtap-runtime 1.1-3.el5_5.3, systemtap-testsuite 1.1-3.el5_5.3, systemtap-initscript 1.1-3.el5_5.3
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2010:0894
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS version 4 systemtap 0.6.2-2.el4_8.3, systemtap-runtime 0.6.2-2.el4_8.3, systemtap-testsuite 0.6.2-2.el4_8.3
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2010:0895
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 5 client) systemtap 1.1-3.el5_5.3, systemtap-client 1.1-3.el5_5.3, systemtap-server 1.1-3.el5_5.3, systemtap-runtime 1.1-3.el5_5.3, systemtap-testsuite 1.1-3.el5_5.3, systemtap-initscript 1.1-3.el5_5.3 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) systemtap 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-client 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-server 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-grapher 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-runtime 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-testsuite 1.2-11.el6_0, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) systemtap 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-client 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-server 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-grapher 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-runtime 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-testsuite 1.2-11.el6_0, +1 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2010:0894
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop version 4 systemtap 0.6.2-2.el4_8.3, systemtap-runtime 0.6.2-2.el4_8.3, systemtap-testsuite 0.6.2-2.el4_8.3 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 4 systemtap 0.6.2-2.el4_8.3, systemtap-runtime 0.6.2-2.el4_8.3, systemtap-testsuite 0.6.2-2.el4_8.3
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2010:0895
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) systemtap 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-client 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-server 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-grapher 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-runtime 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-testsuite 1.2-11.el6_0, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) systemtap 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-client 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-server 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-grapher 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-runtime 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-testsuite 1.2-11.el6_0, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) systemtap 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-client 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-server 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-grapher 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-runtime 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-testsuite 1.2-11.el6_0, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) systemtap 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-client 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-server 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-grapher 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-runtime 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-testsuite 1.2-11.el6_0, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) systemtap 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-client 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-server 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-grapher 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-runtime 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-testsuite 1.2-11.el6_0, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) systemtap 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-client 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-server 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-grapher 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-runtime 1.2-11.el6_0, systemtap-testsuite 1.2-11.el6_0, +1 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2010:0894
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 4 systemtap 0.6.2-2.el4_8.3, systemtap-runtime 0.6.2-2.el4_8.3, systemtap-testsuite 0.6.2-2.el4_8.3
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2010:0895

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Timeline

  1. First public exploit (Metasploit exploit/linux/local/systemtap_modprobe_options_priv_esc)
  2. Published

Exploit prediction

5.83% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 93% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 2.0 7.2 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-264 Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.