CVE-2019-14868
In ksh version 20120801, a flaw was found in the way it evaluates certain environment variables....
In ksh version 20120801, a flaw was found in the way it evaluates certain environment variables. An attacker could use this flaw to override or bypass environment restrictions to execute shell commands. Services and applications that allow remote unauthenticated attackers to provide one of those environment variables could allow them to exploit this issue remotely.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
In ksh version 20120801, a flaw was found in the way it evaluates certain environment variables. An attacker could use this flaw to override or bypass environment restrictions to execute shell commands. Services and applications that allow remote unauthenticated attackers to provide one of those environment variables could allow them to exploit this issue remotely.
- Record
CVE-2019-14868- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-77
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2019-5983
In ksh version 20120801, a flaw was found in the way it evaluates certain environment variables. An attacker could use this flaw to override or bypass environment restrictions to execute shell commands. Services and applications that allow remote unauthenticated attackers to provide one of those environment variables could allow them to exploit this issue remotely.
- Record
EUVD-2019-5983- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-2x84-7422-962r
In ksh version 20120801, a flaw was found in the way it evaluates certain environment variables....
In ksh version 20120801, a flaw was found in the way it evaluates certain environment variables. An attacker could use this flaw to override or bypass environment restrictions to execute shell commands. Services and applications that allow remote unauthenticated attackers to provide one of those environment variables could allow them to exploit this issue remotely.
- Record
GHSA-2x84-7422-962r- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-77
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
In ksh version 20120801, a flaw was found in the way it evaluates certain environment variables. An attacker could use this flaw to override or bypass environment restrictions to execute shell commands. Services and applications that allow remote unauthenticated attackers to provide one of those environment variables could allow them to exploit this issue remotely.
- Record
CVE-2019-14868- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 7.2 High
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C - Weakness
- CWE-77
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
In ksh version 20120801, a flaw was found in the way it evaluates certain environment variables. An attacker could use this flaw to override or bypass environment restrictions to execute shell commands. Services and applications that allow remote unauthenticated attackers to provide one of those environment variables could allow them to exploit this issue remotely.
- Record
CVE-2019-14868- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2019-14868
In ksh version 20120801, a flaw was found in the way it evaluates certain environment variables. An attacker could use this flaw to override or bypass environment restrictions to execute shell commands. Services and applications that allow remote unauthenticated attackers to provide one of those environment variables could allow them to exploit this issue remotely.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2019-14868- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Show 13 moreShow less
OSVRHSA-2020:0431
Red Hat Security Advisory: ksh security update
- Record
RHSA-2020:0431- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2020:0515
Red Hat Security Advisory: ksh security update
- Record
RHSA-2020:0515- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2020:0559
Red Hat Security Advisory: ksh security update
- Record
RHSA-2020:0559- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2020:0568
Red Hat Security Advisory: ksh security update
- Record
RHSA-2020:0568- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2020:1332
Red Hat Security Advisory: ksh security update
- Record
RHSA-2020:1332- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2020:1333
Red Hat Security Advisory: ksh security update
- Record
RHSA-2020:1333- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2020:2210
Red Hat Security Advisory: ksh security update
- Record
RHSA-2020:2210- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2020:5351
Red Hat Security Advisory: ksh security update
- Record
RHSA-2020:5351- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2020:5352
Red Hat Security Advisory: ksh security update
- Record
RHSA-2020:5352- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2019-14868
In ksh version 20120801, a flaw was found in the way it evaluates certain environment variables. An attacker could use this flaw to override or bypass environment restrictions to execute shell commands. Services and applications that allow remote unauthenticated attackers to provide one of those environment variables could allow them to exploit this issue remotely.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2019-14868- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2021-0141 No score
Updated ksh packages fix security vulnerability
A flaw was found in the way ksh evaluates certain environment variables. An attacker could use this flaw to override or bypass environment restrictions to execute shell commands. Services and applications that allow remote unauthenticated attackers to provide one of those environment variables could allow them to exploit this issue remotely (CVE-2019-14868).
- Record
MGASA-2021-0141- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:14252-1 No score
ksh-93vu-10.1 on GA media
These are all security issues fixed in the ksh-93vu-10.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:14252-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2024:2756-1 No score
Security update for ksh
This update for ksh fixes the following issues:
- CVE-2019-14868: Fixed code injection due to environment variables on startup interpreted as arithmetic expression (bsc#1160796)
Other fixes:
- do not use posix_spawn as it lacks proper job handling (bsc#1224057)
- fix segfault in variable substitution (bsc#1129288)
- Record
SUSE-SU-2024:2756-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
kshDebian:11 |
before 2020.0.0-2.1 | 2020.0.0-2.1 |
kshDebian:9 |
before 93u+20120801-3.1+deb9u1, plus listed versions 93u+20120801-3.1 |
93u+20120801-3.1+deb9u1 |
kshMageia:7 |
before 2020.0.0.81.git8052490-0.1.1.mga7 | 2020.0.0.81.git8052490-0.1.1.mga7 |
kshRed Hat:rhel_e4s:8.0::appstream |
before 0:20120801-253.el8_0 | 0:20120801-253.el8_0 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:rhel_e4s:8.0::appstream |
before 0:20120801-253.el8_0 | 0:20120801-253.el8_0 |
ksh-debugsourceRed Hat:rhel_e4s:8.0::appstream |
before 0:20120801-253.el8_0 | 0:20120801-253.el8_0 |
kshRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client |
before 0:20120801-38.el6_10 | 0:20120801-38.el6_10 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client |
before 0:20120801-38.el6_10 | 0:20120801-38.el6_10 |
kshRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode |
before 0:20120801-38.el6_10 | 0:20120801-38.el6_10 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode |
before 0:20120801-38.el6_10 | 0:20120801-38.el6_10 |
Show 39 moreShow less
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
kshRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server |
before 0:20120801-38.el6_10 | 0:20120801-38.el6_10 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server |
before 0:20120801-38.el6_10 | 0:20120801-38.el6_10 |
kshRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation |
before 0:20120801-38.el6_10 | 0:20120801-38.el6_10 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation |
before 0:20120801-38.el6_10 | 0:20120801-38.el6_10 |
kshRed Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream |
before 0:20120801-253.el8_1 | 0:20120801-253.el8_1 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream |
before 0:20120801-253.el8_1 | 0:20120801-253.el8_1 |
ksh-debugsourceRed Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream |
before 0:20120801-253.el8_1 | 0:20120801-253.el8_1 |
kshRed Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client |
before 0:20120801-140.el7_7 | 0:20120801-140.el7_7 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client |
before 0:20120801-140.el7_7 | 0:20120801-140.el7_7 |
kshRed Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode |
before 0:20120801-140.el7_7 | 0:20120801-140.el7_7 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode |
before 0:20120801-140.el7_7 | 0:20120801-140.el7_7 |
kshRed Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server |
before 0:20120801-140.el7_7 | 0:20120801-140.el7_7 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server |
before 0:20120801-140.el7_7 | 0:20120801-140.el7_7 |
kshRed Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation |
before 0:20120801-140.el7_7 | 0:20120801-140.el7_7 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation |
before 0:20120801-140.el7_7 | 0:20120801-140.el7_7 |
kshRed Hat:rhel_eus:7.5::computenode |
before 0:20120801-138.el7_5 | 0:20120801-138.el7_5 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:rhel_eus:7.5::computenode |
before 0:20120801-138.el7_5 | 0:20120801-138.el7_5 |
kshRed Hat:rhel_eus:7.5::server |
before 0:20120801-138.el7_5 | 0:20120801-138.el7_5 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:rhel_eus:7.5::server |
before 0:20120801-138.el7_5 | 0:20120801-138.el7_5 |
kshRed Hat:rhel_eus:7.6::computenode |
before 0:20120801-140.el7_6 | 0:20120801-140.el7_6 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:rhel_eus:7.6::computenode |
before 0:20120801-140.el7_6 | 0:20120801-140.el7_6 |
kshRed Hat:rhel_eus:7.6::server |
before 0:20120801-140.el7_6 | 0:20120801-140.el7_6 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:rhel_eus:7.6::server |
before 0:20120801-140.el7_6 | 0:20120801-140.el7_6 |
kshRed Hat:rhel_aus:7.4::server |
before 0:20120801-36.el7_4 | 0:20120801-36.el7_4 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:rhel_aus:7.4::server |
before 0:20120801-36.el7_4 | 0:20120801-36.el7_4 |
kshRed Hat:rhel_e4s:7.4::server |
before 0:20120801-36.el7_4 | 0:20120801-36.el7_4 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:rhel_e4s:7.4::server |
before 0:20120801-36.el7_4 | 0:20120801-36.el7_4 |
kshRed Hat:rhel_tus:7.4::server |
before 0:20120801-36.el7_4 | 0:20120801-36.el7_4 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:rhel_tus:7.4::server |
before 0:20120801-36.el7_4 | 0:20120801-36.el7_4 |
kshRed Hat:rhel_aus:7.3::server |
before 0:20120801-27.el7_3 | 0:20120801-27.el7_3 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:rhel_aus:7.3::server |
before 0:20120801-27.el7_3 | 0:20120801-27.el7_3 |
kshRed Hat:rhel_aus:7.2::server |
before 0:20120801-26.el7_2 | 0:20120801-26.el7_2 |
ksh-debuginfoRed Hat:rhel_aus:7.2::server |
before 0:20120801-26.el7_2 | 0:20120801-26.el7_2 |
kshSUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 12 |
before 93vu-19.3.2 | 93vu-19.3.2 |
kshSUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP5 |
before 93vu-19.3.2 | 93vu-19.3.2 |
kshUbuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS |
before 93u+20120801-1ubuntu0.14.04.1+esm1, plus listed versions 93u+20120801-193u+20120801-1ubuntu0.14.04.1 |
93u+20120801-1ubuntu0.14.04.1+esm1 |
kshUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 93u+20120801-193u+20120801-1.193u+20120801-1.293u+20120801-293u+20120801-2ubuntu0.16.04.1 |
None known |
kshUbuntu:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 93u+20120801-3.1ubuntu1 |
None known |
kshopenSUSE:Tumbleweed |
before 93vu-10.1 | 93vu-10.1 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| facts | ||
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2019-14868 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.4) in Kornshell Ksh, published April 2, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.39%, the 72nd percentile. Fixed in ksh 2020.0.0-2.1.
References
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2019-14868
github.com/att/ast/commit/c7de8b641266bac7c77942239ac659edfee9ecd2
support.apple.com/kb/HT211170
seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/May/53
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/07/msg00015.html
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-14868
Show 33 moreShow less
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0431
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-14868
advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2021-0141.html
bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=26213
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/thread/N4R57SLEOTTXFWOLPTVVS2AOZ35FZEJR
security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/advisories/2020/rhsa-2020_0431.json
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-14868
suse.com/support/update/announcement/2024/suse-su-20242756-1
bugzilla.suse.com/1129288
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2019-14868