Every CVE Search/ Get API key

CVE-2019-19234

In Sudo through 1.8.29, the fact that a user has been blocked (e.g., by using the ! character in...

7.5 HighFix availableDisputed

In Sudo through 1.8.29, the fact that a user has been blocked (e.g., by using the ! character in the shadow file instead of a password hash) is not considered, allowing an attacker (who has access to a Runas ALL sudoer account) to impersonate any blocked user. NOTE: The software maintainer believes that this CVE is not valid. Disabling local password authentication for a user is not the same as disabling all access to that user--the user may still be able to login via other means (ssh key, kerberos, etc). Both the Linux shadow(5) and passwd(1) manuals are clear on this. Indeed it is a valid use case to have local accounts that are only accessible via sudo and that cannot be logged into with a password. Sudo 1.8.30 added an optional setting to check the shell of the target user (not the encrypted password!) against the contents of /etc/shells but that is not the same thing as preventing access to users with an invalid password hash

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

Exploit likelihood

3.17%Down 0.9 points since Apr 14, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

NVD Score used 7.5

In Sudo through 1.8.29, the fact that a user has been blocked (e.g., by using the ! character in the shadow file instead of a password hash) is not considered, allowing an attacker (who has access to a Runas ALL sudoer account) to impersonate any blocked user. NOTE: The software maintainer believes that this CVE is not valid. Disabling local password authentication for a user is not the same as disabling all access to that user--the user may still be able to login via other means (ssh key, kerberos, etc). Both the Linux shadow(5) and passwd(1) manuals are clear on this. Indeed it is a valid use case to have local accounts that are only accessible via sudo and that cannot be logged into with a password. Sudo 1.8.30 added an optional setting to check the shell of the target user (not the encrypted password!) against the contents of /etc/shells but that is not the same thing as preventing access to users with an invalid password hash

Record
CVE-2019-19234
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
CVSS 2.0
5.0 MediumAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
CVE List No score

In Sudo through 1.8.29, the fact that a user has been blocked (e.g., by using the ! character in the shadow file instead of a password hash) is not considered, allowing an attacker (who has access to a Runas ALL sudoer account) to impersonate any blocked user. NOTE: The software maintainer believes that this CVE is not valid. Disabling local password authentication for a user is not the same as disabling all access to that user--the user may still be able to login via other means (ssh key, kerberos, etc). Both the Linux shadow(5) and passwd(1) manuals are clear on this. Indeed it is a valid use case to have local accounts that are only accessible via sudo and that cannot be logged into with a password. Sudo 1.8.30 added an optional setting to check the shell of the target user (not the encrypted password!) against the contents of /etc/shells but that is not the same thing as preventing access to users with an invalid password hash

Record
CVE-2019-19234
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2019-8860 No score

In Sudo through 1.8.29, the fact that a user has been blocked (e.g., by using the ! character in the shadow file instead of a password hash) is not considered, allowing an attacker (who has access to a Runas ALL sudoer account) to impersonate any blocked user. NOTE: The software maintainer believes that this CVE is not valid. Disabling local password authentication for a user is not the same as disabling all access to that user--the user may still be able to login via other means (ssh key, kerberos, etc). Both the Linux shadow(5) and passwd(1) manuals are clear on this. Indeed it is a valid use case to have local accounts that are only accessible via sudo and that cannot be logged into with a password. Sudo 1.8.30 added an optional setting to check the shell of the target user (not the encrypted password!) against the contents of /etc/shells but that is not the same thing as preventing access to users with an invalid password hash

Record
EUVD-2019-8860
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-vh47-792w-24m4 7.5

In Sudo through 1.8.29, the fact that a user has been blocked (e.g., by using the ! character in...

In Sudo through 1.8.29, the fact that a user has been blocked (e.g., by using the ! character in the shadow file instead of a password hash) is not considered, allowing an attacker (who has access to a Runas ALL sudoer account) to impersonate any blocked user.

Record
GHSA-vh47-792w-24m4
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVBELL-CVE-2019-19234 7.5

CVE-2019-19234 does not affect BellSoft software

Record
BELL-CVE-2019-19234
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 7.5

In Sudo through 1.8.29, the fact that a user has been blocked (e.g., by using the ! character in the shadow file instead of a password hash) is not considered, allowing an attacker (who has access to a Runas ALL sudoer account) to impersonate any blocked user. NOTE: The software maintainer believes that this CVE is not valid. Disabling local password authentication for a user is not the same as disabling all access to that user--the user may still be able to login via other means (ssh key, kerberos, etc). Both the Linux shadow(5) and passwd(1) manuals are clear on this. Indeed it is a valid use case to have local accounts that are only accessible via sudo and that cannot be logged into with a password. Sudo 1.8.30 added an optional setting to check the shell of the target user (not the encrypted password!) against the contents of /etc/shells but that is not the same thing as preventing access to users with an invalid password hash

Record
CVE-2019-19234
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
Show 4 moreShow less
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2019-19234 7.5

In Sudo through 1.8.29, the fact that a user has been blocked (e.g., by using the ! character in the shadow file instead of a password hash) is not considered, allowing an attacker (who has access to a Runas ALL sudoer account) to impersonate any blocked user. NOTE: The software maintainer believes that this CVE is not valid. Disabling local password authentication for a user is not the same as disabling all access to that user--the user may still be able to login via other means (ssh key, kerberos, etc). Both the Linux shadow(5) and passwd(1) manuals are clear on this. Indeed it is a valid use case to have local accounts that are only accessible via sudo and that cannot be logged into with a password. Sudo 1.8.30 added an optional setting to check the shell of the target user (not the encrypted password!) against the contents of /etc/shells but that is not the same thing as preventing access to users with an invalid password hash

Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2019-19234
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2020:1804 7.5

Red Hat Security Advisory: sudo security, bug fix, and enhancement update

Record
RHSA-2020:1804
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2019-19234 7.5

In Sudo through 1.8.29, the fact that a user has been blocked (e.g., by using the ! character in the shadow file instead of a password hash) is not considered, allowing an attacker (who has access to a Runas ALL sudoer account) to impersonate any blocked user. NOTE: The software maintainer believes that this CVE is not valid. Disabling local password authentication for a user is not the same as disabling all access to that user--the user may still be able to login via other means (ssh key, kerberos, etc). Both the Linux shadow(5) and passwd(1) manuals are clear on this. Indeed it is a valid use case to have local accounts that are only accessible via sudo and that cannot be logged into with a password. Sudo 1.8.30 added an optional setting to check the shell of the target user (not the encrypted password!) against the contents of /etc/shells but that is not the same thing as preventing access to users with an invalid password hash

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2019-19234
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2020-0246 No score

Updated sudo packages fix security vulnerability

Updated sudo packages fix security vulnerabilities:

It was found that sudo always allowed commands to be run with unknown user or group ids if the sudo configuration allowed it for example via the "ALL" alias. This could allow sudo to impersonate non-existent account and depending on how applications are configured, could lead to certain restriction bypass. This is now explicitly disabled. A new setting called "allow_unknown_runas_id" was introduced in order to enable this (CVE-2019-19232).

When an account is disabled via the shadow file, by replacing the password hash with "!", it is not considered disabled by sudo. And depending on the configuration, sudo can be run by using such disabled account (CVE-2019-19234).

The sudo package has been updated to version 1.8.31p1, fixing these issues and other bugs.

Record
MGASA-2020-0246
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
sudo
Debian:12
before 1.8.31-1
1.8.31-1
sudo
Debian:13
before 1.8.31-1
1.8.31-1
sudo
Debian:14
before 1.8.31-1
1.8.31-1
sudo
Mageia:7
From an advisory covering 3 CVEs
before 1.8.31p1-1.1.mga7
1.8.31p1-1.1.mga7
sudo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
before 0:1.8.29-5.el8
0:1.8.29-5.el8
sudo-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
before 0:1.8.29-5.el8
0:1.8.29-5.el8
sudo-debugsource
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
before 0:1.8.29-5.el8
0:1.8.29-5.el8
sudo
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS
before 1.8.31-1ubuntu1, plus listed versions
1.8.27-1ubuntu41.8.29-1ubuntu1
1.8.31-1ubuntu1

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
affected, facts
aliasesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2019-19234 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.5) in Sudo, published December 19, 2019. Its validity is disputed. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 3.17%, the 88th percentile. Fixed in sudo 1.8.31-1.

References

Show 39 moreShow less
MoveEnter Open