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.
CVE-2010-4170
This CVE was only ever scored under CVSS v2.0. NVD CVSS v2.0 base 7.2 — v2 rates that HIGH (v2 bands: LOW 0.0–3.9 / MEDIUM 4.0–6.9 / HIGH 7.0–10.0; v2 has no CRITICAL band). Vector AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C. CVSS v2 is an older, coarser metric than v3.1/v4.0 (no Scope, no User Interaction, no Attack Requirements), so it is not directly comparable to a v3 or v4 score. NVD has never re-scored this record under v3. EPSS predicts 5.3% exploitation probability in the next 30 days, which is reflected in EG Risk but does not lift the v2 base. Confidence: LOW.
- Public exploit code is available (Metasploit, Exploit-DB (verified), public exploit)
A fix is available — apply it.
- CVSS v2.0 (legacy)
- 7.2HIGHNVD never assigned a CVSS v3 rating to this CVE
- EG Score
- 7.2(low)
- EG Risk
- 63(Track)EG Risk 63/100SSVC: Track
EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).
How it’s computedSeverity72% × 45%Exploitation65% × 40%Automatability30% × 15%Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence. - EPSS PROB
- 5%
- EPSS %ILE
- 92%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
December 7, 2010
Last Modified
April 29, 2026
References (38)
- secalert@redhathttp://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2010-November/051115.html
- secalert@redhathttp://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2010-November/051122.html
- secalert@redhathttp://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2010-November/051127.html
- secalert@redhathttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/152569/SystemTap-1.3-MODPROBE_OPTIONS-Privilege-Escalation.html
- secalert@redhathttp://secunia.com/advisories/42256
- secalert@redhathttp://secunia.com/advisories/42263
- secalert@redhathttp://secunia.com/advisories/42306
- secalert@redhathttp://secunia.com/advisories/42318
- secalert@redhathttp://secunia.com/advisories/46920
- secalert@redhathttp://sources.redhat.com/git/gitweb.cgi?p=systemtap.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=b7565b41228bea196cefa3a7d43ab67f8f9152e2
- secalert@redhathttp://sources.redhat.com/ml/systemtap/2010-q4/msg00230.html
- secalert@redhathttp://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2348
- secalert@redhathttp://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/15620
- secalert@redhathttp://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2010-0894.html
- secalert@redhathttp://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2010-0895.html
Patch Availability(2)
| Vendor / Ecosystem | Fixed in / Patch | Released | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| redhat | systemtap-0:0.6.2-2.el4_8.3 | 2010-11-17 | redhat |
| redhat | systemtap-0:1.2-11.el6_0 | 2010-11-17 | redhat |
Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.
Affected Packages
(5 across 5 ecosystems)
Debian:11(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| systemtap | — | 1.2-3 | — |
Debian:12(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| systemtap | — | 1.2-3 | — |
Debian:13(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| systemtap | — | 1.2-3 | — |
Debian:14(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| systemtap | — | 1.2-3 | — |
Debian:6.0(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| systemtap | 1.2-5 | 1.2-5+squeeze1 | — |
All Vendor Advisories
(2)
Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 3× in last 7d / 15× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.
Showing the most recent 100 of 108 total refreshes for this CVE.
- 2026-08-26 14:40 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-25 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-24 17:02 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-08-19 16:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-18 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-16 02:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-15 01:25 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-09 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-08 10:26 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-08-07 16:21 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-06 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-05 19:11 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-04 15:04 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-01 04:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-30 01:26 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-26 13:42 UTCEG score recompute▲ 7.20
- 2026-07-25 14:12 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-23 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-23 03:12 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-07-23 01:03 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-23 00:39 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-23 00:07 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-22 21:46 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-22 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-22 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 75 moreShow fewer
- 2026-07-21 15:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-20 17:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-19 02:25 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-18 10:00 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-16 16:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-15 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-15 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-15 01:55 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-13 22:25 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-13 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-11 08:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-08 15:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-08 15:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-06 02:19 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-06 02:19 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-05 22:29 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-07-05 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-02 14:01 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-28 04:52 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-28 04:52 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-27 03:05 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-25 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-23 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-22 14:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-22 14:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 14:53 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-18 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-18 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-17 09:43 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-16 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-15 17:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-11 13:56 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 22:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 13:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 00:13 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-29 13:40 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-29 09:33 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-29 09:33 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-05-29 09:33 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 02:46 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-05-24 16:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
Publicly available exploits
(3 references)Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Metasploit module) (2 Exploit-DB entries). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.
- Exploit-DBEDB-46730✓ verifiedFirst seen Apr 19, 2019
SystemTap 1.3 - MODPROBE_OPTIONS Privilege Escalation (Metasploit)
Open source ↗ - Exploit-DBEDB-15620✓ verifiedFirst seen Nov 26, 2010
SystemTap - Local Privilege Escalation
Open source ↗ - Metasploitexploit/linux/local/systemtap_modprobe_options_priv_esc✓ verifiedFirst seen Nov 17, 2010
SystemTap MODPROBE_OPTIONS Privilege Escalation
Open source ↗
Related CVEs(same vendor)
Same vendor
10 shownredhat
- CVE-2001-0825EG 10.0HIGH
- CVE-2001-1009EG 10.0EPSS p93HIGH
- CVE-2001-0554EG 10.0EPSS p98HIGH
- CVE-2001-1162EG 10.0EPSS p96HIGH
- CVE-2001-0414EG 10.0EPSS p100HIGH
- CVE-2001-0191EG 10.0EPSS p92HIGH
- CVE-2001-0301EG 10.0EPSS p91HIGH
- CVE-2001-0197EG 10.0EPSS p96HIGH
- CVE-2001-0233EG 10.0EPSS p96HIGH
- CVE-2001-0010EG 10.0EPSS p98HIGH
Frequently asked(4)
What is CVE-2010-4170?
When was CVE-2010-4170 disclosed?
Is CVE-2010-4170 actively exploited?
How do I remediate CVE-2010-4170?
Dependency Blast Radius
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