CVE-2019-13638
GNU patch through 2.7.6 is vulnerable to OS shell command injection that can be exploited by opening a crafted patch file that contains an ed style diff payload with shell metacharacters.
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (4.49%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
Description
GNU patch through 2.7.6 is vulnerable to OS shell command injection that can be exploited by opening a crafted patch file that contains an ed style diff payload with shell metacharacters. The ed editor does not need to be present on the vulnerable system. This is different from CVE-2018-1000156.
- CVSS 3.0
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 4.49% probability · 91th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-78
- Affected
- gnu/patch · debian/debian linux
- Source
- cve@mitre.org
EPSS moved from 9.3% on 21 September 2026 to 4.5% on 27 October 2026. The dashed line is the ten per cent mark our analysts treat as “patch before the next change window”.
References
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154124/GNU-patch-Command-Injection-Directory-Traversal.html
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2798
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2964
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:3757
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:3758
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:4061
- https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/patch.git/commit/?id=3fcd042d26d70856e826a42b5f93dc4854d80bf0Mailing List, Patch, Vendor Advisory
- https://github.com/irsl/gnu-patch-vulnerabilities
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/SVWWGISFWACROJJPVJJL4UBLVZ7LPOLT/
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Aug/29
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Jul/54Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-13638Third Party Advisory
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201908-22
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190828-0001/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4489Third Party Advisory
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154124/GNU-patch-Command-Injection-Directory-Traversal.html
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2798
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2964
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:3757
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:3758
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:4061
- https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/patch.git/commit/?id=3fcd042d26d70856e826a42b5f93dc4854d80bf0Mailing List, Patch, Vendor Advisory
- https://github.com/irsl/gnu-patch-vulnerabilities
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/SVWWGISFWACROJJPVJJL4UBLVZ7LPOLT/
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Aug/29
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Jul/54Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-13638Third Party Advisory
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201908-22
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190828-0001/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4489Third Party Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.