HighCVE-2019-14287

    Sudo: security vulnerability (CVE-2019-14287)

    Published Sources: CVE.org

    What is affected, what to do

    In Sudo before 1.8.28, an attacker with access to a Runas ALL sudoer account can bypass certain policy blacklists and session PAM modules, and can cause incorrect logging, by invoking sudo with a crafted user ID. For example, this allows bypass of !root configuration, and USER= logging, for a "sudo -u \#$((0xffffffff))" command.

    An exploit is publicly available. Update Sudo to version 1.8.28.

    Affected
    • Sudo lt *..1.8.28
    • Fedora eq 29..29
    • Fedora eq 30..30
    • Fedora eq 31..31
    • Debian Linux eq 8.0..8.0
    • Debian Linux eq 9.0..9.0
    • Debian Linux eq 10.0..10.0
    • openSUSE Leap eq 15.0..15.0
    • openSUSE Leap eq 15.1..15.1
    • Canonical Ubuntu Linux eq 12.04..12.04
    • Canonical Ubuntu Linux eq 14.04..14.04
    • Canonical Ubuntu Linux eq 16.04..16.04
    • Canonical Ubuntu Linux eq 18.04..18.04
    • Canonical Ubuntu Linux eq 19.04..19.04
    • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 eq 4.1..4.1
    • Red Hat Virtualization eq 4.2..4.2
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux eq 8.0..8.0
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop eq 6.0..6.0
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop eq 7.0..7.0
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Extended Update Support (EUS) eq 7.5..7.5
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Extended Update Support (EUS) eq 7.6..7.6
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Extended Update Support (EUS) eq 7.7..7.7
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Extended Update Support (EUS) eq 8.1..8.1
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Extended Update Support (EUS) eq 8.2..8.2
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Extended Update Support (EUS) eq 8.4..8.4
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux Server eq 5.0..5.0
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux Server eq 6.0..6.0
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux Server eq 7.0..7.0
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Advanced mission critical Update Support (AUS) eq 6.5..6.5
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Advanced mission critical Update Support (AUS) eq 6.6..6.6
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Advanced mission critical Update Support (AUS) eq 7.2..7.2
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Advanced mission critical Update Support (AUS) eq 7.3..7.3
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Advanced mission critical Update Support (AUS) eq 7.4..7.4
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Advanced mission critical Update Support (AUS) eq 7.6..7.6
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Advanced mission critical Update Support (AUS) eq 7.7..7.7
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Advanced mission critical Update Support (AUS) eq 8.2..8.2
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Advanced mission critical Update Support (AUS) eq 8.4..8.4
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (TUS) eq 7.2..7.2
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (TUS) eq 7.3..7.3
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (TUS) eq 7.4..7.4
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (TUS) eq 7.6..7.6
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (TUS) eq 7.7..7.7
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (TUS) eq 8.2..8.2
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (TUS) eq 8.4..8.4
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux Workstation eq 6.0..6.0
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux Workstation eq 7.0..7.0
    Fixed in
    • Sudo 1.8.28

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    8.8

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v3

    8.8

    CVSS v3

    Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: CVE.org

    63.8 %

    EPSS score

    High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 99.22

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    High
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    122.76 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    PoC (publicly reported)
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    8.8 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    8.8
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    63.8 %
    High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    99.22
    Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    —
    Published

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    In Sudo before 1.8.28, an attacker with access to a Runas ALL sudoer account can bypass certain policy blacklists and session PAM modules, and can cause incorrect logging, by invoking sudo with a crafted user ID. For example, this allows bypass of !root configuration, and USER= logging, for a "sudo -u \#$((0xffffffff))" command.

    Source: NVD (NIST), cvelistv5

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    netappelement_software_management_node
    • —
    • —
    redhatopenshift_container_platform
    • 4.1
    • —
    redhatvirtualization
    • 4.2
    • —
    sudo_projectsudo
    • < 1.8.28
    • 1.8.28

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Linuxdebiandebian_linux10.0
    Linuxdebiandebian_linux8.0
    Linuxdebiandebian_linux9.0
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux8.0
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_desktop6.0
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_desktop7.0
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_eus7.5
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_eus7.6
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_eus7.7
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_eus8.1
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_eus8.2
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_eus8.4
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_server5.0
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_server6.0
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_server7.0
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_server_aus6.5
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_server_aus6.6
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_server_aus7.2
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_server_aus7.3
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_server_aus7.4
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_server_aus7.6
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_server_aus7.7
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_server_aus8.2
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_server_aus8.4

    Public exploit references

    Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.

    Public exploit references
    Reference tagged as exploitopenwall.com (opens in a new tab)PoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified—
    Packet StormSlackware Security Advisory sudo Updates (opens in a new tab)packetstormsecurity.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified—
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)Sudo-Agent-CTF- (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified

    References & sources

    • openwall.com[oss-security] 20191014 Sudo: CVE-2019-14287Mailing list, x_refsource_MLIST, Exploit, Mailing list, Third-party advisory
    • usn.ubuntu.comUSN-4154-1Vendor advisory, x_refsource_UBUNTU, Third-party advisory
    • debian.orgDSA-4543Vendor advisory, x_refsource_DEBIAN, Third-party advisory
    • seclists.org20191015 [SECURITY] [DSA 4543-1] sudo security updateMailing list, x_refsource_BUGTRAQ, Issue tracking, Mailing list, Third-party advisory
    • seclists.org20191015 [slackware-security] sudo (SSA:2019-287-01)Mailing list, x_refsource_BUGTRAQ, Issue tracking, Mailing list, Third-party advisory
    • lists.opensuse.orgopenSUSE-SU-2019:2316Vendor advisory, x_refsource_SUSE, Mailing list, Third-party advisory
    • packetstormsecurity.comfiles/154853/Slackware-Security-Advisory-sudo-Updates.htmlx_refsource_MISC, Third-party advisory, Vulnerability database
    • lists.fedoraproject.orgFEDORA-2019-9cb221f2beVendor advisory, x_refsource_FEDORA
    • sudo.wsalerts/minus_1_uid.htmlx_refsource_CONFIRM, Exploit, Vendor advisory
    • lists.opensuse.orgopenSUSE-SU-2019:2333Vendor advisory, x_refsource_SUSE, Mailing list, Third-party advisory
    • security.netapp.comadvisory/ntap-20191017-0003x_refsource_CONFIRM, Third-party advisory
    • openwall.com[oss-security] 20191015 Re: Sudo: CVE-2019-14287Mailing list, x_refsource_MLIST, Mailing list, Patch, Third-party advisory
    • lists.debian.org[debian-lts-announce] 20191017 [SECURITY] [DLA 1964-1] sudo security updateMailing list, x_refsource_MLIST, Mailing list, Third-party advisory
    • lists.fedoraproject.orgFEDORA-2019-67998e9f7eVendor advisory, x_refsource_FEDORA
    • support.f5.comcsp/article/K53746212?utm_source=f5support&amp;utm_medium=RSSx_refsource_CONFIRM
    • openwall.com[oss-security] 20191023 Membership application for linux-distros - VMwareMailing list, x_refsource_MLIST, Mailing list, Third-party advisory
    • access.redhat.comRHSA-2019:3197Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, Third-party advisory
    • access.redhat.comRHSA-2019:3205Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, Third-party advisory
    • access.redhat.comRHSA-2019:3204Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, Third-party advisory
    • access.redhat.comRHSA-2019:3209Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, Third-party advisory
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    Badge preview for CVE-2019-14287
    <a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2019-14287"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2019-14287.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2019-14287 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>