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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 10 Jun 2022.
Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2019-13272

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-07-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.16.71 / 4.2 or later.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Public exploit Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel before 5.1.17, ptrace_link in kernel/ptrace.c mishandles the recording of the credentials of a process that wants to create a ptrace relationship, which allows local users to obtain root access by leveraging certain scenarios with a parent-child process relationship, where a parent drops privileges and calls execve (potentially allowing control by an attacker). One contributing factor is an object lifetime issue (which can also cause a panic). Another contributing factor is incorrect marking of a ptrace relationship as privileged, which is exploitable through (for example) Polkit's pkexec helper with PTRACE_TRACEME. NOTE: SELinux deny_ptrace might be a usable workaround in some environments.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A race condition and object lifetime issue in the ptrace_link function in kernel/ptrace.c incorrectly records credentials when establishing a ptrace relationship, allowing a child process to retain references to a privileged parent's credentials after that parent drops privileges and calls execve, enabling local privilege escalation to root.

MitigationApply the upstream kernel patch (or update to kernel 5.1.17+); alternatively, enable SELinux with deny_ptrace policy or restrict ptrace access as a workaround until kernel update is possible.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 3.16.52, < 3.16.71>= 4.1.39, < 4.2>= 4.4.40, < 4.4.185>= 4.8.16, < 4.9>= 4.9.1, < 4.9.185>= 4.10, < 4.14.133>= 4.15, < 4.19.58>= 4.20, < 5.1.17
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0= 9.0= 10.0
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 29
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 16.04= 18.04= 19.04
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 7.0= 8.0
Enterprise Linux For Arm 64Operating system
Affected:= 7.0_aarch64
Enterprise Linux For Ibm Z SystemsOperating system
Affected:= 7.0_s390x
Enterprise Linux For Real TimeOperating system
Affected:= 8

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify kernel version
    Run `uname -r` or `cat /proc/version` to obtain the running kernel version
    Affected if The installed kernel version falls within any of these ranges: 3.16.52-3.16.70, 4.1.39-4.1.x before 4.2, 4.4.40-4.4.184, 4.8.16-4.8.x before 4.9, 4.9.1-4.9.184, 4.10-4.14.132, 4.15-4.19.57, 4.20-5.1.16
  2. Verify ptrace capability
    Check if processes can use ptrace by examining `/proc/sys/kernel/yama/ptrace_scope` (value 0 or 1 allows ptrace) or test with `ptrace(PTRACE_TRACEME)` in a child process
    Affected if ptrace_scope is set to 0 or 1, or ptrace is otherwise permitted for unprivileged users in the environment
  3. Confirm credential inheritance race condition
    Review kernel source for ptrace_link in kernel/ptrace.c to verify the vulnerable code path exists; on affected systems, examine if any setuid-root binaries exist that could be targeted via this race
    Affected if The kernel is from an affected version range AND unprivileged users can establish ptrace relationships AND setuid-root binaries exist on the system

A system is affected if it runs a kernel version within the affected ranges (3.16.52+, 4.1.39+, 4.4.40+, etc.) AND allows ptrace access from unprivileged users to attach to processes that may later call execve with elevated privileges.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.16.71 / 4.2 / 4.4.185 or later
Fixed in 3.16.714.24.4.185
Vendor patch bugs.chromium.org →
Interim mitigation

Apply the upstream kernel patch (or update to kernel 5.1.17+); alternatively, enable SELinux with deny_ptrace policy or restrict ptrace access as a workaround until kernel update is possible.

Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 5.1.17 or later; or for older branches: 3.16.71+, 4.2+, 4.4.185+, 4.9+

  1. 1. Identify the current kernel version running on the system using 'uname -r'
  2. 2. For Ubuntu/Debian: Update package lists with 'apt-get update' and upgrade the kernel package with 'apt-get dist-upgrade' or install specific fixed kernel packages
  3. 3. For RHEL/CentOS/Fedora: Run 'yum update kernel' or 'dnf update kernel'
  4. 4. For all distributions: After kernel update, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel: 'systemctl reboot'
  5. 5. Verify the new kernel version is running with 'uname -r' and confirm it is version 5.1.17 or later, or a patched version (e.g., 4.4.185+, 4.9+, 3.16.71+)
  6. 6. As an alternative mitigation if kernel upgrade is not immediately feasible, add 'deny_ptrace' to SELinux policy or set 'kernel.yama.ptrace_scope' to 2 or 3 in /etc/sysctl.conf to restrict ptrace access
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with custom kernel modules or older drivers; ensure backups and test in staging first

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Linux Kernel Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-13272 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data