CVE-2019-18684
Sudo through 1.8.29 allows local users to escalate to root if they have write access to file...
Sudo through 1.8.29 allows local users to escalate to root if they have write access to file descriptor 3 of the sudo process. This occurs because of a race condition between determining a uid, and the setresuid and openat system calls. The attacker can write "ALL ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL" to /proc/#####/fd/3 at a time when Sudo is prompting for a password. NOTE: This has been disputed due to the way Linux /proc works. It has been argued that writing to /proc/#####/fd/3 would only be viable if you had permission to write to /etc/sudoers. Even with write permission to /proc/#####/fd/3, it would not help you write to /etc/sudoers
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
Sudo through 1.8.29 allows local users to escalate to root if they have write access to file descriptor 3 of the sudo process. This occurs because of a race condition between determining a uid, and the setresuid and openat system calls. The attacker can write "ALL ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL" to /proc/#####/fd/3 at a time when Sudo is prompting for a password. NOTE: This has been disputed due to the way Linux /proc works. It has been argued that writing to /proc/#####/fd/3 would only be viable if you had permission to write to /etc/sudoers. Even with write permission to /proc/#####/fd/3, it would not help you write to /etc/sudoers
- Record
CVE-2019-18684- CVSS 3.1
- 7.0 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 6.9 Medium
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C - Weakness
- CWE-362
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
Sudo through 1.8.29 allows local users to escalate to root if they have write access to file descriptor 3 of the sudo process. This occurs because of a race condition between determining a uid, and the setresuid and openat system calls. The attacker can write "ALL ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL" to /proc/#####/fd/3 at a time when Sudo is prompting for a password. NOTE: This has been disputed due to the way Linux /proc works. It has been argued that writing to /proc/#####/fd/3 would only be viable if you had permission to write to /etc/sudoers. Even with write permission to /proc/#####/fd/3, it would not help you write to /etc/sudoers
- Record
CVE-2019-18684- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2019-8398 No score
Sudo through 1.8.29 allows local users to escalate to root if they have write access to file descriptor 3 of the sudo process. This occurs because of a race condition between determining a uid, and the setresuid and openat system calls. The attacker can write "ALL ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL" to /proc/#####/fd/3 at a time when Sudo is prompting for a password. NOTE: This has been disputed due to the way Linux /proc works. It has been argued that writing to /proc/#####/fd/3 would only be viable if you had permission to write to /etc/sudoers. Even with write permission to /proc/#####/fd/3, it would not help you write to /etc/sudoers
- Record
EUVD-2019-8398- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-h9q8-53pc-hhxf
Sudo through 1.8.29 allows local users to escalate to root if they have write access to file...
Sudo through 1.8.29 allows local users to escalate to root if they have write access to file descriptor 3 of the sudo process. This occurs because of a race condition between determining a uid, and the setresuid and openat system calls. The attacker can write "ALL ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL" to /proc/#####/fd/3 at a time when Sudo is prompting for a password.
- Record
GHSA-h9q8-53pc-hhxf- CVSS 3.1
- 7.0 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-362
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVBELL-CVE-2019-18684
CVE-2019-18684 does not affect BellSoft software
- Record
BELL-CVE-2019-18684- CVSS 3.1
- 7.0 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
Sudo through 1.8.29 allows local users to escalate to root if they have write access to file descriptor 3 of the sudo process. This occurs because of a race condition between determining a uid, and the setresuid and openat system calls. The attacker can write "ALL ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL" to /proc/#####/fd/3 at a time when Sudo is prompting for a password. NOTE: This has been disputed due to the way Linux /proc works. It has been argued that writing to /proc/#####/fd/3 would only be viable if you had permission to write to /etc/sudoers. Even with write permission to /proc/#####/fd/3, it would not help you write to /etc/sudoers
- Record
CVE-2019-18684- CVSS 3.1
- 7.0 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| 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-2019-18684 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.0) in Sudo Project Sudo, published November 4, 2019. Its validity is disputed. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.29%, the 22nd percentile.