CVE-2014-7817
glibc: command execution in wordexp() with WRDE_NOCMD specified
Severity
ModerateRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 2.0
Review impact separately from score.
Published · November 20, 2014
Updated · November 21, 2025
Description
It was found that the wordexp() function would perform command substitution even when the WRDE_NOCMD flag was specified. An attacker able to provide specially crafted input to an application using the wordexp() function, and not sanitizing the input correctly, could potentially use this flaw to execute arbitrary commands with the credentials of the user running that application.
Statement
This issue affects the version of glibc package as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6 and 7. Red Hat Product Security has rated this issue as having Moderate security impact.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 is now in Extended Life Cycle phase of the support and maintenance life cycle. This issue is not currently planned to be addressed in future updates. For additional information, refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Life Cycle: https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/updates/errata
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
No mitigation is specified in collected source.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 2.0 · 3.6AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N
CWE-440 · Expected Behavior Violation