CVE-2019-18634
In Sudo before 1.8.26, if pwfeedback is enabled in /etc/sudoers, users can trigger a stack-based buffer overflow in the privileged sudo process.
Does this matter?
EPSS puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 19.3%, higher than 97% of all known CVEs. Patch or mitigate before the next change window.
Description
In Sudo before 1.8.26, if pwfeedback is enabled in /etc/sudoers, users can trigger a stack-based buffer overflow in the privileged sudo process. (pwfeedback is a default setting in Linux Mint and elementary OS; however, it is NOT the default for upstream and many other packages, and would exist only if enabled by an administrator.) The attacker needs to deliver a long string to the stdin of getln() in tgetpass.c.
- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 19.28% probability · 97th percentile
- Public exploits
- 2 in Exploit-DB · first 4 February 2020
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-787
- Affected
- sudo project/sudo · debian/debian linux
- Source
- cve@mitre.org
EPSS 19.3% since 3 November 2026; no change recorded yet. The dashed line is the ten per cent mark our analysts treat as “patch before the next change window”. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
Public exploits (2)
Entries in Exploit-DB that cite this CVE. Links go to the Exploit-DB page and to the file in the public repository; nothing is hosted here. A verified tick means the Exploit-DB team confirmed the exploit works against the stated version.
References
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-02/msg00029.html
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156174/Slackware-Security-Advisory-sudo-Updates.htmlThird Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156189/Sudo-1.8.25p-Buffer-Overflow.htmlThird Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Jan/40Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/01/30/6Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/01/31/1Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/02/05/2Third Party Advisory
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/02/05/5Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0487
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0509
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0540
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0726
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/02/msg00002.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/I6TKF36KOQUVJNBHSVJFA7BU3CCEYD2F/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/IY6DZ7WMDKU4ZDML6MJLDAPG42B5WVUC/
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2020/Feb/2Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2020/Feb/3Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2020/Jan/44Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202003-12
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20200210-0001/
- https://support.apple.com/kb/HT210919Third Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4263-1/
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4263-2/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4614Third Party Advisory
- https://www.sudo.ws/alerts/pwfeedback.htmlExploit, Vendor Advisory
- https://www.sudo.ws/security.htmlVendor Advisory
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-02/msg00029.html
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156174/Slackware-Security-Advisory-sudo-Updates.htmlThird Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156189/Sudo-1.8.25p-Buffer-Overflow.htmlThird Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Jan/40Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.