Vulnerability in Linux Kernel
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 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.
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.522 (99.0th percentile), scored .
High probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — patch promptly. 99th percentile — 99.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.522 · newest: 0.522 · change: 0.000
Affected products
CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities)
This CVE is on the CISA KEV catalog, added on . CISA KEV inclusion means CISA has confirmed in-the-wild exploitation; US federal agencies are required to remediate within a published due date.
BOD 22-01 due date: .
Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Public proof-of-concept exploits
- jas502n/CVE-2019-13272
- Cyc1eC/CVE-2019-13272
- oneoy/CVE-2019-13272
- josemlwdf/CVE-2019-13272
- Tharana/vulnerability-exploitation
- MDS1GNAL/ptrace_scope-CVE-2019-13272-privilege-escalation
- Tharana/Exploiting-a-Linux-kernel-vulnerability
- bigbigliang-malwarebenchmark/cve-2019-13272
- letsr00t/CVE-2019-13272
- Chinmay1743/ptrace-vuln
References
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/153663/Linux-PTRACE_TRACEME-Broken-Permission-Obj… (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
- bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail (Exploit, Patch, Third Party Advisory, Issue Tracking)
- cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.1.17 (Patch, Vendor Advisory)
- github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/6994eefb0053799d2e07cd140df6c2ea106c41ee (Patch)
- git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/ (Patch, Vendor Advisory)
- bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi (Patch, Third Party Advisory, Issue Tracking)
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi (Patch, Issue Tracking)
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/… (vendor-advisory, Release Notes)
- www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4484 (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
- seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Jul/30 (mailing-list, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory, Issue Tracking)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2019-13272?
- CVE-2019-13272 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux Kernel. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2019-07-17.
- How severe is CVE-2019-13272?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2019-13272 known to be exploited?
- Yes. CVE-2019-13272 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-12-10), indicating it is being actively exploited. 136 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.