CVE-2019-19234
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. 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
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 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N - CVSS 2.0
- 5.0 Medium
AV: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 High
CVSS: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 High
CVSS: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 High
CVSS: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 High
CVSS: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 High
CVSS: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 High
CVSS: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
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
sudoDebian:12 |
before 1.8.31-1 | 1.8.31-1 |
sudoDebian:13 |
before 1.8.31-1 | 1.8.31-1 |
sudoDebian:14 |
before 1.8.31-1 | 1.8.31-1 |
sudoMageia:7 From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 1.8.31p1-1.1.mga7 | 1.8.31p1-1.1.mga7 |
sudoRed 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-debuginfoRed 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-debugsourceRed Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos From an advisory covering 2 CVEs |
before 0:1.8.29-5.el8 | 0:1.8.29-5.el8 |
sudoUbuntu:20.04:LTS |
before 1.8.31-1ubuntu1, plus listed versions 1.8.27-1ubuntu41.8.29-1ubuntu1 |
1.8.31-1ubuntu1 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected, 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-2019-19234 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
sudo.ws/stable.html
sudo.ws/devel.html
security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20200103-0004
support2.windriver.com/index.php?page=defects&on=view&id=LIN1018-5505
quickview.cloudapps.cisco.com/quickview/bug/CSCvs58104
quickview.cloudapps.cisco.com/quickview/bug/CSCvs58473
Show 39 moreShow less
quickview.cloudapps.cisco.com/quickview/bug/CSCvs58812
quickview.cloudapps.cisco.com/quickview/bug/CSCvs58979
quickview.cloudapps.cisco.com/quickview/bug/CSCvs58772
quickview.cloudapps.cisco.com/quickview/bug/CSCvs60748
tenable.com/plugins/nessus/132985
support2.windriver.com/index.php?page=defects&on=view&id=LIN1019-3816
support2.windriver.com/index.php?page=cve&on=view&id=CVE-2019-19234
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-19234
bsi.bund.de/SharedDocs/Warnmeldungen/DE/CB/2019/12/warnmeldung_cb-k20-0001.html
access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2019-19234
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/IY6DZ7WMDKU4ZDML6MJLDAPG42B5WVUC
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/I6TKF36KOQUVJNBHSVJFA7BU3CCEYD2F
oracle.com/security-alerts/bulletinapr2020.html
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-19234
github.com/advisories/GHSA-vh47-792w-24m4
docs.bell-sw.com/security/cves/CVE-2019-19234
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-19234
advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2020-0246.html
bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=26314
cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2019-19232
cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2019-19234
sudo.ws/legacy.html
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/thread/IY6DZ7WMDKU4ZDML6MJLDAPG42B5WVUC
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:1804
access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification
access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/8/html/8.2_release_notes/index
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1679508
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1715516
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1733961
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1786704
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1796518
security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/advisories/2020/rhsa-2020_1804.json
access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-19232
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-19232
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-19232
access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-19234
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1786708
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-19234
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2019-19234