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CVE-2019-13272
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…
High7.8Known exploitedEPSS 52.2%
- Published
- Updated
- Reserved
- Assigned by
- mitre
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.
Exploited in the wild
CISA lists this vulnerability in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as Linux Kernel Improper Privilege Management Vulnerability.
- Added
- 10 Dec 2021
- Fix due (US federal)
- 10 Jun 2022
- Used by ransomware
- Not known
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CISA-ADPADP (enrichment) | 3.1 | High7.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | High7.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 52.2% · top 1.0% of all CVEs (6 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
Loading the EPSS history…
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.8.
Weakness
- n/a
- CWE-noinfo Not enough information
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References (30)
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/153663/Linux-PTRACE_TRACEME-Broken-Permission-Object-Lifetime-Handling.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1903 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.1.17 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/6994eefb0053799d2e07cd140df6c2ea106c41ee (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=6994eefb0053799d2e07cd140df6c2ea106c41ee (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1140671 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1730895 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- FEDORA-2019-a95015e60f (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORAx_transferred
- DSA-4484 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANx_transferred
- 20190722 [SECURITY] [DSA 4484-1] linux security update (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQx_transferred
- 20190722 [slackware-security] Slackware 14.2 kernel (SSA:2019-202-01) (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQx_transferred
- [debian-lts-announce] 20190723 [SECURITY] [DLA 1862-1] linux security update (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTx_transferred
- [debian-lts-announce] 20190723 [SECURITY] [DLA 1863-1] linux-4.9 security update (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/153702/Slackware-Security-Advisory-Slackware-14.2-kernel-Updates.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190806-0001/ (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- RHSA-2019:2405 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHATx_transferred
- RHSA-2019:2411 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHATx_transferred
- USN-4093-1 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUx_transferred
- USN-4094-1 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUx_transferred
- USN-4095-1 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154245/Kernel-Live-Patch-Security-Notice-LSN-0054-1.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K91025336 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- USN-4117-1 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUx_transferred
- USN-4118-1 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUx_transferred
- RHSA-2019:2809 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHATx_transferred
- https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K91025336?utm_source=f5support&%3Butm_medium=RSS (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154957/Linux-Polkit-pkexec-Helper-PTRACE_TRACEME-Local-Root.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156929/Linux-PTRACE_TRACEME-Local-Root.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165051/Linux-Kernel-5.1.x-PTRACE_TRACEME-pkexec-Local-Privilege-Escalation.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2019-13272 (opens in a new tab)government-resource
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- CISA KEV catalog (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://trackcve.app/cve/CVE-2019-13272)Record last updated .