CVEs / CVE-2019-13272
CVE-2019-13272: Linux Kernel Improper Privilege Management Vulnerability
- Known exploited in the CISA KEV catalog since 10 Dec 2021
- high 7.8 CVSS 3.1 (NVD)
- EPSS 52.1% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 98% of CVEs (30 Oct 2026)
- Last changed at its sources
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Summary
Kernel/ptrace.c in Linux kernel mishandles contains an improper privilege management vulnerability that allows local users to obtain root access.
Description
In the Linux kernel before 5.1.17, ptrace_link in kernel/ptrace.c mishandles the recording of the credentials of a process that wants to create a ptrace relationship, which allows local users to obtain root access by leveraging certain scenarios with a parent-child process relationship, where a parent drops privileges and calls execve (potentially allowing control by an attacker). One contributing factor is an object lifetime issue (which can also cause a panic). Another contributing factor is incorrect marking of a ptrace relationship as privileged, which is exploitable through (for example) Polkit's pkexec helper with PTRACE_TRACEME. NOTE: SELinux deny_ptrace might be a usable workaround in some environments.
Affected and fixed versions
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| n/a n/a | n/a | — |
Exploitation
| In CISA KEV since | 10 Dec 2021 |
|---|---|
| Due date for US federal agencies | 10 Jun 2022 |
| Used in ransomware campaigns | Unknown |
| Required action | Apply updates per vendor instructions. |
Severity
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 highCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HScored by NVD |
|---|
References
- CVE-2019-13272 on NVD
- CVE-2019-13272 in the CISA KEV catalog
- CVE-2019-13272 on OSV
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/153663/Linux-PTRACE_TRACEME-Broken-Permission-Object-Lifetime-Handling.html Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/153702/Slackware-Security-Advisory-Slackware-14.2-kernel-Updates.html Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154245/Kernel-Live-Patch-Security-Notice-LSN-0054-1.html Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154957/Linux-Polkit-pkexec-Helper-PTRACE_TRACEME-Local-Root.html Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156929/Linux-PTRACE_TRACEME-Local-Root.html Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165051/Linux-Kernel-5.1.x-PTRACE_TRACEME-pkexec-Local-Privilege-Escalation.html Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2405 Third Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2411 Third Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2809 Third Party Advisory
- https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1903 Exploit, Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1730895 Issue Tracking, Patch
- https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1140671 Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.1.17 Patch, Vendor Advisory
- https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=6994eefb0053799d2e07cd140df6c2ea106c41ee Patch, Vendor Advisory
- https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/6994eefb0053799d2e07cd140df6c2ea106c41ee Patch
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/07/msg00022.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/07/msg00023.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/OGRK5LYWBJ4E4SRI4DKX367NHYSI3VOH/ Release Notes
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Jul/30 Issue Tracking, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Jul/33 Issue Tracking, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
Sources
Exploitation status from the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. EPSS scores from FIRST. Descriptions, severity and references from the National Vulnerability Database. Open-source package versions from OSV (CC-BY 4.0). Text is shown as each source states it; Stackurity does not edit it. Check the vendor's advisory before acting.
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.