CVE-2019-19882: High severity shadow project vulnerability
shadow 4.8, in certain circumstances affecting at least Gentoo, Arch Linux, and Void Linux, allows local users to obtain root access because setuid programs are misconfigured. Specifically, this affects shadow 4.8 when compiled using --with-libpam but without explicitly passing --disable-account-tools-setuid, and without a PAM configuration suitable for use with setuid account management tools. This combination leads to account management tools (groupadd, groupdel, groupmod, useradd, userdel, usermod) that can easily be used by unprivileged local users to escalate privileges to root in multiple ways. This issue became much more relevant in approximately December 2019 when an unrelated bug was fixed (i.e., the chmod calls to suidusbins were fixed in the upstream Makefile which is now included in the release version 4.8).
Affected Software
Remediation
Patch Available
Patch Available
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the severity of CVE-2019-19882?
CVE-2019-19882 has a high severity rating due to its potential to allow local users to gain root access.
How do I fix CVE-2019-19882?
To fix CVE-2019-19882, recompile your shadow package ensuring it is configured with --disable-account-too when using --with-libpam.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-19882?
CVE-2019-19882 specifically affects shadow version 4.8 when compiled under certain conditions.
Which Linux distributions are impacted by CVE-2019-19882?
CVE-2019-19882 impacts at least Gentoo, Arch Linux, and Void Linux.
What is the cause of CVE-2019-19882?
CVE-2019-19882 is caused by misconfigured setuid programs in shadow 4.8.