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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 create a...

Basic Information

CVE State: PUBLISHED
Reserved Date: July 04, 2019
Published Date: July 17, 2019
Last Updated: February 04, 2025
Vendor: Linux
Product: kernel
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.
Tags

CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1

7.8 - HIGH

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0

7.2

Vector: AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

SSVC Information

Exploitation: active
Technical Impact: total

Exploit Status

Exploited in the Wild: Yes (2021-12-10 00:00:00 UTC) Source
Proof of Concept Available: Yes (added 2023-09-04 15:16:09 UTC) Source

References

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/153663/Linux-PTRACE_TRACEME-Broken-Permission-Object-Lifetime-Handling.html https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1903 https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.1.17 https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/6994eefb0053799d2e07cd140df6c2ea106c41ee https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=6994eefb0053799d2e07cd140df6c2ea106c41ee https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1140671 https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1730895 https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/OGRK5LYWBJ4E4SRI4DKX367NHYSI3VOH/ https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4484 https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Jul/30 https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Jul/33 https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/07/msg00022.html https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/07/msg00023.html http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/153702/Slackware-Security-Advisory-Slackware-14.2-kernel-Updates.html https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190806-0001/ https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2405 https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2411 https://usn.ubuntu.com/4093-1/ https://usn.ubuntu.com/4094-1/ https://usn.ubuntu.com/4095-1/ http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154245/Kernel-Live-Patch-Security-Notice-LSN-0054-1.html https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K91025336 https://usn.ubuntu.com/4117-1/ https://usn.ubuntu.com/4118-1/ https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2809 https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K91025336?utm_source=f5support&amp%3Butm_medium=RSS http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154957/Linux-Polkit-pkexec-Helper-PTRACE_TRACEME-Local-Root.html http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156929/Linux-PTRACE_TRACEME-Local-Root.html http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165051/Linux-Kernel-5.1.x-PTRACE_TRACEME-pkexec-Local-Privilege-Escalation.html

Known Exploited Vulnerability Information

Source	Added Date
CISA	2021-12-10 00:00:00 UTC

Scanner Integrations

Scanner	URL	Date Detected
Metasploit	https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/local/ptrace_traceme_pkexec_helper.rb	2025-04-29 11:01:17 UTC