CVE-2020-15238 | Local privilege escalation Blueman

Exp

Blueman is a GTK+ Bluetooth Manager. In Blueman before 2.1.4, the DhcpClient method of the D-Bus interface to blueman-mechanism is prone to an argument injection vulnerability. The impact highly depends on the system configuration. If Polkit-1 is disabled and for versions lower than 2.0.6, any local user can possibly exploit this. If Polkit-1 is enabled for version 2.0.6 and later, a possible attacker needs to be allowed to use the `org.blueman.dhcp.client` action. That is limited to users in the wheel group in the shipped rules file that do have the privileges anyway. On systems with ISC DHCP client (dhclient), attackers can pass arguments to `ip link` with the interface name that can e.g. be used to bring down an interface or add an arbitrary XDP/BPF program. On systems with dhcpcd and without ISC DHCP client, attackers can even run arbitrary scripts by passing `-c/path/to/script` as an interface name. Patches are included in 2.1.4 and master that change the DhcpClient D-Bus method(s) to accept BlueZ network object paths instead of network interface names. A backport to 2.0(.8) is also available. As a workaround, make sure that Polkit-1-support is enabled and limit privileges for the `org.blueman.dhcp.client` action to users that are able to run arbitrary commands as root anyway in /usr/share/polkit-1/rules.d/blueman.rules.

Published: 2020-10-27 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2020-15238 is rated High Exploit Risk (64.5/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.45%). Core evidence: 3 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2020-15238

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
48963 exploit_db edb 2020-10-28 Exploit-DB ↗
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-15238

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2025-03-30 0.60% 0.45% -0.15%
2 2025-03-29 0.45% 0.60% +0.15%
3 2025-03-19 0.45%

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-15238

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
1.8 4.7 [email protected]
7.0 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.0 5.9 [email protected]
6.9 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
3.4 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-15238

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-15238

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2020-15238 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (blueman), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-15238
gentoo high CVE-2020-15238: 1 GLSA(s) (202011-11), 1 atom(s) (net-wireless/blueman); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2020-15238
ubuntu medium CVE-2020-15238 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (blueman), 6 status rows across 6 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 5, DNE 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-15238

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-15238

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
blueman_project blueman < 2.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:blueman_project:blueman:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 31 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:31:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 32 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:32:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 33 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:33:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-15238

URL Tags
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/159740/Blueman-Local-Root-Privilege-Escalation.html Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/blueman/+bug/1897287 Exploit Issue Tracking Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/blueman-project/blueman/releases/tag/2.1.4 Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/blueman-project/blueman/security/advisories/GHSA-jpc9-mgw6-2xwx Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/11/msg00005.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/3F4EQU6CAPBKAPJ42HTB473NJLXFKB32/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/6CFLMNHAHX5HPIKC5IG6F25HO5Z6RH2N/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/W52NP7HRFTNAVNZLGKY4GR3JIZG5KKGS/
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202011-11 Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4781 Third Party Advisory
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