sudo: attacker with access to a Runas ALL sudoer account can impersonate a nonexistent user
Published Dec 19, 2019
7.5
HIGHCVSS 3.1
EPSS 3.29%
Description
In Sudo through 1.8.29, an attacker with access to a Runas ALL sudoer account can impersonate a nonexistent user by invoking sudo with a numeric uid that is not associated with any user. NOTE: The software maintainer believes that this is not a vulnerability because running a command via sudo as a user not present in the local password database is an intentional feature. Because this behavior surprised some users, sudo 1.8.30 introduced an option to enable/disable this behavior with the default being disabled. However, this does not change the fact that sudo was behaving as intended, and as documented, in earlier versions
Affected products
No data.
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
sudo-0:1.8.29-5.el8
Fixed · RHSA-2020:1804
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
sudo
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
sudo
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
sudo
Will not fix
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | sudo-0:1.8.29-5.el8 | Fixed | RHSA-2020:1804 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | sudo | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | sudo | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | sudo | Will not fix | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat statement
A new setting variable called "allow_unknown_runas_id" was introduced which would explicitly allow sudo to run applications with unknown user or group ids (Provided sudo was configured that way, for example via the runas parameter etc).
Red Hat mitigation
This flaw only affects specific, non-default configurations of sudo, in which sudoers configuration entry allows a user to run a command as any user except root. Any other configuration of sudo is not affected by this flaw.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 1, 2026.
Score over time
2021–2026- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
Percentile over time
- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
Table of values (23 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 3.29% (0.03295) | 88.09th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 3.32% (0.03322) | 86.97th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Oct 16, 2025 | 3.72% (0.03725) | 87.44th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Aug 30, 2025 | 2.14% (0.02143) | 83.54th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Apr 24, 2025 | 4.47% (0.04468) | 88.44th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 30, 2025 | 2.92% (0.02918) | 85.16th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 29, 2025 | 6.89% (0.06893) | 85.30th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 2.92% (0.02918) | 85.47th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 1.46% (0.01458) | 87.24th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Apr 13, 2024 | 0.76% (0.00758) | 80.82th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Feb 29, 2024 | 0.54% (0.00542) | 76.76th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Nov 25, 2023 | 0.54% (0.00542) | 74.74th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Nov 9, 2023 | 0.47% (0.00475) | 72.94th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Oct 23, 2023 | 0.50% (0.00495) | 73.49th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Oct 8, 2023 | 0.36% (0.00359) | 68.94th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.30% (0.00301) | 64.70th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 2.69% (0.02686) | 82.85th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 2.69% (0.02686) | 81.17th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 23.44% (0.23437) | 94.77th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 15.32% (0.15322) | 90.03th | v1 |
| Jan 6, 2022 | 15.32% (0.15322) | 89.91th | v1 |
| Jan 5, 2022 | 3.88% (0.03876) | 83.52th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 3.88% (0.03876) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (23)
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Mar/31 mailing-listx_refsource_FULLDISC
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-19232 Vendor Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2019-19232 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1786704 Issue Tracking
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/I6TKF36KOQUVJNBHSVJFA7BU3CCEYD2F/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORA
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/IY6DZ7WMDKU4ZDML6MJLDAPG42B5WVUC/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORA
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-19232
- https://quickview.cloudapps.cisco.com/quickview/bug/CSCvs58103 x_refsource_MISC
- https://quickview.cloudapps.cisco.com/quickview/bug/CSCvs58812 x_refsource_MISC
- https://quickview.cloudapps.cisco.com/quickview/bug/CSCvs58979 x_refsource_MISC
- https://quickview.cloudapps.cisco.com/quickview/bug/CSCvs76870 x_refsource_MISC
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20200103-0004/ x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT211100 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://support.apple.com/kb/HT211100 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://support2.windriver.com/index.php?page=cve&on=view&id=CVE-2019-19232 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://support2.windriver.com/index.php?page=defects&on=view&id=LIN1018-5506 x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.bsi.bund.de/SharedDocs/Warnmeldungen/DE/CB/2019/12/warnmeldung_cb-k20-0001.html x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-19232
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/bulletinapr2020.html x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://www.sudo.ws/devel.html#1.8.30b2 x_refsource_CONFIRMVendor Advisory
- https://www.sudo.ws/stable.html x_refsource_MISCVendor Advisory
- https://www.sudo.ws/stable.html#1.8.30
- https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/133936 x_refsource_MISC
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.