CVE-2021-31997 | python-postorius: postorius-permissions.sh used during %post allows local privilege escalation from postorius user to root

A UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following vulnerability in python-postorius of openSUSE Leap 15.2, Factory allows local attackers to escalate from users postorius or postorius-admin to root. This issue affects: openSUSE Leap 15.2 python-postorius version 1.3.2-lp152.1.2 and prior versions. openSUSE Factory python-postorius version 1.3.4-2.1 and prior versions.

Published: 2021-06-10 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-31997 is rated Low Risk (36.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.34%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-31997

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 2026-06-15 0.03% 0.34% +0.30%
2 2025-10-15 0.13% 0.03% -0.09%
3 2025-03-30 — 0.13% —

Full EPSS history (10 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-31997

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.8 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N 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:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.5 4.2 [email protected]
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
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.
 1.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.2 2.0 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/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:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
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.
 3.9 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-31997

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-31997

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2021-31997 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (postorius), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-31997
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-31997 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (postorius), 9 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 6, ignored 2, DNE 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-31997

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-31997

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
opensuse python-postorius < 1.3.2-lp152.1.2 cpe:2.3:a:opensuse:python-postorius:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse python-postorius <= 1.3.4-2.1 cpe:2.3:a:opensuse:python-postorius:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-31997

URL Tags
https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1182407 Issue Tracking Vendor Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence