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CVE-2023-22809

In Sudo before 1.9.12p2, the sudoedit (aka -e) feature mishandles extra arguments passed in the user-provided environment variables (SUDO_EDITOR,...

Basic Information

CVE State
PUBLISHED
Reserved Date
January 06, 2023
Published Date
January 18, 2023
Last Updated
April 04, 2025
Vendor
n/a
Product
n/a
Description
In Sudo before 1.9.12p2, the sudoedit (aka -e) feature mishandles extra arguments passed in the user-provided environment variables (SUDO_EDITOR, VISUAL, and EDITOR), allowing a local attacker to append arbitrary entries to the list of files to process. This can lead to privilege escalation. Affected versions are 1.8.0 through 1.9.12.p1. The problem exists because a user-specified editor may contain a "--" argument that defeats a protection mechanism, e.g., an EDITOR='vim -- /path/to/extra/file' value.

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

SSVC Information

Exploitation
none
Technical Impact
total

Exploit Status

Proof of Concept Available
Yes (added 2023-01-21 15:19:23 UTC) Source

References

https://www.synacktiv.com/sites/default/files/2023-01/sudo-CVE-2023-22809.pdf https://www.sudo.ws/security/advisories/sudoedit_any/ https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/01/msg00012.html https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5321 http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/01/19/1 https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/2QDGFCGAV5QRJCE6IXRXIS4XJHS57DDH/ https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230127-0015/ https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/G4YNBTTKTRT2ME3NTSXAPTOKYUE47XHZ/ http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/171644/sudo-1.9.12p1-Privilege-Escalation.html https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202305-12 https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213758 http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/172509/Sudoedit-Extra-Arguments-Privilege-Escalation.html http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2023/Aug/21 http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/174234/Cisco-ThousandEyes-Enterprise-Agent-Virtual-Appliance-Arbitrary-File-Modification.html

Known Exploited Vulnerability Information

Source Added Date
The Shadowserver (via CIRCL) 2026-04-15 14:28:37 UTC

Scanner Integrations

Scanner URL Date Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/local/sudoedit_bypass_priv_esc.rb 2025-04-28 15:02:13 UTC

Potential Proof of Concepts

Warning: These PoCs have not been tested and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

sudoedit_bypass_priv_esc

Type: metasploit • Created: Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2023-22809

AntiVlad/CVE-2023-22809

Type: github • Created: 2024-08-14 07:48:10 UTC • Stars: 0

Toothless5143/CVE-2023-22809

Type: github • Created: 2023-08-06 06:46:40 UTC • Stars: 2

Running this exploit on a vulnerable system allows a local attacker to gain a root shell on the machine.

asepsaepdin/CVE-2023-22809

Type: github • Created: 2023-07-10 06:38:14 UTC • Stars: 6

pashayogi/CVE-2023-22809

Type: github • Created: 2023-06-25 15:11:01 UTC • Stars: 0

AiK1d/CVE-2023-22809-sudo-POC

Type: github • Created: 2023-04-06 03:11:48 UTC • Stars: 7

CVE-2023-22809 Linux Sudo

M4fiaB0y/CVE-2023-22809

Type: github • Created: 2023-02-22 17:50:03 UTC • Stars: 6

n3m1sys/CVE-2023-22809-sudoedit-privesc

Type: github • Created: 2023-01-21 15:19:23 UTC • Stars: 155

A script to automate privilege escalation with CVE-2023-22809 vulnerability

Timeline

  • CVE ID Reserved

  • CVE Published to Public

  • Proof of Concept Exploit Available

  • Detected by Metasploit

  • Added to KEVIntel