Description
RealtimeKit (aka rtkit) 0.5 does not properly use D-Bus for communication with a polkit authority, which allows local users to bypass intended access restrictions by leveraging a PolkitUnixProcess PolkitSubject race condition via a (1) setuid process or (2) pkexec process, a related issue to CVE-2013-4288.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | rtkit | 0.10-3 | — |
| Debian 13 | rtkit | 0.10-3 | — |
| Debian 12 | rtkit | 0.10-3 | — |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 6 | rtkit | 0.5-2.el6_4 | RHSA-2013:1282 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | rtkit | 0.11+git.20130926-3.1 | openSUSE-SU-2024:10557-1 |
Advisories 2
- RHSA-2013:1282 Red Hat Security Advisory: rtkit security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 26, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2024:10557-1 rtkit-0.11+git.20130926-3.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
References
- openSUSE-SU-2013:1597 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2013:1282 vendor-advisory
- [oss-security] 20130918 Re: Fwd: [vs-plain] polkit races mailing-list
- openSUSE-SU-2013:1548 vendor-advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1006677