CVE-2019-3694
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 · uneditedA Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following vulnerability in the packaging of munin in openSUSE Factory, Leap 15.1 allows local attackers to escalate from user munin to root. This issue affects: openSUSE Factory munin version 2.0.49-4.2 and prior versions. openSUSE Leap 15.1 munin version 2.0.40-lp151.1.1 and prior versions.
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 confidenceA symlink following vulnerability in the munin system monitoring tool's packaging on openSUSE Factory and Leap 15.1 allows a local user with munin privileges to escalate to root by creating or manipulating symbolic links that the munin process follows with elevated privileges.
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<= 2.0.49-4.2<= 2.0.40-lp151.1.1CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Check if munin is installedRun 'rpm -qa | grep munin' (RHEL/SUSE) or 'dpkg -l | grep munin' (Debian) to list installed munin packagesAffected if No munin packages are returned, the system is not affected
-
Determine installed munin versionRun 'rpm -q munin' or 'rpm -q munin-node' to get the exact version numberAffected if Version number is at or below 2.0.49-4.2 (openSUSE Factory) or at or below 2.0.40-lp151.1.1 (SUSE Leap 15.1)
-
Verify munin user existsRun 'id munin' or check /etc/passwd for a munin user entryAffected if A munin system user exists on the system
-
Check munin user write access to sensitive directoriesRun 'ls -la /var/lib/munin', 'ls -la /var/cache/munin', and check ownership and permissions. Also check directories like /tmp, /var/tmp that may be writable by the munin userAffected if The munin user has write permissions to directories that are processed by munin cron jobs or plugins running with elevated privileges
A system is affected if munin is installed with a vulnerable version (2.0.49-4.2 or lower for openSUSE, 2.0.40-lp151.1.1 or lower for Leap 15.1) AND a munin user exists with write access to directories that munin processes follow during execution.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataUpdate munin to a version beyond 2.0.49-4.2 (Factory) or 2.0.40-lp151.1.1 (Leap 15.1), or restrict the munin user's write access to directories where symlinks could be created and followed.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,168.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-3694 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-3694 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
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.
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.
- 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