dbcve.org
FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject

CVE-2019-18823

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-04-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 8.9.4 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
HTCondor up to and including stable series 8.8.6 and development series 8.9.4 has Incorrect Access Control. It is possible to use a different authentication method to submit a job than the administrator has specified. If the administrator has configured the READ or WRITE methods to include CLAIMTOBE, then it is possible to impersonate another user to the condor_schedd. (For example to submit or remove jobs)

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 · moderate confidence

HTCondor contains an incorrect access control vulnerability where authentication methods can be bypassed. When administrators configure READ or WRITE authentication methods to include CLAIMTOBE, an attacker can impersonate other users to the condor_schedd daemon, allowing unauthorized job submission or removal.

MitigationRemove CLAIMTOBE from READ and WRITE authentication method configurations in HTCondor, and ensure only intended authentication mechanisms (such as GSI, Kerberos, or password-based methods) are permitted for job submission.

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
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 30= 31= 32
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 9.0= 10.0
HtcondorApplication
Affected:>= 8.8.0, <= 8.8.6>= 8.9.0, <= 8.9.4

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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. Verify HTCondor installation and version
    Run 'condor_version' or 'rpm -q htcondor' (Fedora) / 'dpkg -l htcondor' (Debian) to get the installed version
    Affected if Version is 8.8.0-8.8.6 or 8.9.0-8.9.4, or running on Fedora 30/31/32 or Debian 9.0/10.0
  2. Confirm condor_schedd daemon is running
    Run 'condor_status -schedd' or 'systemctl status condor' to check if the scheduler daemon is active
    Affected if condor_schedd daemon is running and accessible on the network
  3. Locate HTCondor configuration files
    Check /etc/condor/condor_config or /etc/condor/config.d/ for configuration files; also check CONDOR_CONFIG environment variable
    Affected if Configuration files exist and contain authentication settings
  4. Inspect READ authentication method configuration
    Search config for 'READ' or 'SEC_READ' authentication settings: grep -r 'READ.*AUTHENTICATION' /etc/condor/ or look for AUTHENTICATION_METHODS_READ variable
    Affected if CLAIMTOBE is listed in READ authentication methods (e.g., AUTHENTICATION_METHODS_READ = CLAIMTOBE,...)
  5. Inspect WRITE authentication method configuration
    Search config for 'WRITE' or 'SEC_WRITE' authentication settings: grep -r 'WRITE.*AUTHENTICATION' /etc/condor/ or look for AUTHENTICATION_METHODS_WRITE variable
    Affected if CLAIMTOBE is listed in WRITE authentication methods (e.g., AUTHENTICATION_METHODS_WRITE = CLAIMTOBE,...)

The environment is affected if running a vulnerable HTCondor version (8.8.0-8.8.6 or 8.9.0-8.9.4) with CLAIMTOBE included in either READ or WRITE authentication method configurations, allowing impersonation attacks against the condor_schedd.

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 a release after 8.9.4
Interim mitigation

Remove CLAIMTOBE from READ and WRITE authentication method configurations in HTCondor, and ensure only intended authentication mechanisms (such as GSI, Kerberos, or password-based methods) are permitted for job submission.

Recommended fix High confidence

HTCondor 8.8.7 or later in the 8.8.x series, or 8.9.5 or later in the 8.9.x series; ideally the latest stable release (8.9.5+ or current stable branch)

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed HTCondor version using 'condor_version' or package manager
  2. 2. For Fedora systems: run 'dnf update htcondor' or 'dnf upgrade htcondor' to get the latest available version
  3. 3. For Debian systems: run 'apt-get update && apt-get upgrade htcondor' or 'apt-get install htcondor'
  4. 4. After upgrade, verify the new version is installed: 'condor_version'
  5. 5. Review and modify HTCondor configuration to remove CLAIMTOBE from READ/WRITE authentication methods if currently in use
  6. 6. Restart HTCondor services: 'condor_master -restart' or systemctl restart condor
Caveat Minor - upgrading within the same stable series should not break existing job workflows, but test in staging first

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

Fix this in Fedora Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,770
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,832.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-18823 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2019-18823 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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