{"id":"CVE-2019-20044","url":"https://www.cyber-defence.io/tools/cve/CVE-2019-20044","generatedAt":"2026-10-28T01:39:53.243Z","title":"In Zsh before 5.8, attackers able to execute commands can regain privileges dropped by the --no-PRIVILEGED option.","description":"In Zsh before 5.8, attackers able to execute commands can regain privileges dropped by the --no-PRIVILEGED option. Zsh fails to overwrite the saved uid, so the original privileges can be restored by executing MODULE_PATH=/dir/with/module zmodload with a module that calls setuid().","published":"2020-02-24T14:15:12.000Z","lastModified":"2026-06-17T02:29:53.000Z","status":"Modified","sourceIdentifier":"cve@mitre.org","cvss":{"version":"3.1","score":7.8,"severity":"HIGH","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"},"cwe":["CWE-273"],"affected":["zsh/zsh","fedoraproject/fedora","debian/debian linux","apple/ipados","apple/iphone os","apple/mac os x","apple/tvos","apple/watchos"],"epss":{"score":0.00495,"percentile":0.42221,"date":"2026-10-26","history":[]},"kev":{"listed":false},"exploits":{"count":0,"verified":false,"firstPublished":null,"source":"Exploit-DB (https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb)","entries":[]},"verdict":{"level":"high","text":"High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.50%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit."},"changes":[],"references":[{"url":"http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/May/49","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/May/53","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/May/55","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/May/59","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://zsh.sourceforge.net/releases.html","tags":["Release Notes","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://github.com/XMB5/zsh-privileged-upgrade","tags":["Broken Link"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/03/msg00004.html","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/12/msg00000.html","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/FP64FFIZI2CKQOEAOI5A72PVQULE7ZZC/","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/PN5V7MPHRRP7QNHOEK56S7QGRU53WUN6/","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202003-55","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/HT211168","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/HT211170","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/HT211171","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/HT211175","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/kb/HT211168","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/kb/HT211170","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/kb/HT211171","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/kb/HT211175","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://www.zsh.org/mla/zsh-announce/141","tags":["Release Notes","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/May/49","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/May/53","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/May/55","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/May/59","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://zsh.sourceforge.net/releases.html","tags":["Release Notes","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://github.com/XMB5/zsh-privileged-upgrade","tags":["Broken Link"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/03/msg00004.html","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/12/msg00000.html","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/FP64FFIZI2CKQOEAOI5A72PVQULE7ZZC/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/PN5V7MPHRRP7QNHOEK56S7QGRU53WUN6/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202003-55","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/HT211168","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/HT211170","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/HT211171","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/HT211175","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/kb/HT211168","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/kb/HT211170","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/kb/HT211171","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/kb/HT211175","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://www.zsh.org/mla/zsh-announce/141","tags":["Release Notes","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"}],"sources":{"nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-20044","epss":"https://www.first.org/epss/","kev":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","exploitdb":"https://www.exploit-db.com/"},"licence":"CC BY 4.0 — link back to the CVE Explorer if you publish the results; upstream data remains subject to its own terms."}