28 August 2026
Reference: CVE-2015-5287
1. What is being reported?
The vulnerability involves a part of Red Hat’s Automatic Bug Reporting Tool that can be tricked by local users with certain permissions to increase their access rights through a method called a symlink attack. This means someone with limited access could potentially gain more control than they should have.
2. What this means in plain English
If an attacker exploits this weakness, they could take over parts of your system they shouldn’t be able to. This could lead to data loss, disruption of services, or further attacks. For small organisations, this risk is significant if they use the affected software and do not have proper protections in place.
3. Could this affect a small business?
Small businesses or organisations using Red Hat systems with the Automatic Bug Reporting Tool installed could be affected, especially if the tool is not updated or properly secured. Those not using Red Hat or this specific tool are unlikely to be impacted.
4. What to do now
- Check if your systems use Red Hat Automatic Bug Reporting Tool and identify the version installed.
- Apply any available updates or patches from Red Hat immediately following their instructions.
- If updates are not available, follow recommended mitigations or consider discontinuing use of the tool.
- Consult your IT provider to review your systems’ exposure and ensure compliance with security update best practices.
5. Ask your IT provider
Can you confirm if our systems use Red Hat Automatic Bug Reporting Tool, and have all necessary patches or mitigations been applied to protect against the CVE-2015-5287 privilege escalation vulnerability?
6. Bottom line
If you use Red Hat’s Automatic Bug Reporting Tool, act now to update or secure it to prevent attackers from gaining unauthorized control.
Information based on CISA KEV, NVD and reputable security reporting.