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    CVE-2023-22809

    In Sudo before 1.9.12p2, the sudoedit (aka -e) feature mishandles extra arguments passed in the user-provided environment variables (SUDO_EDITOR, VISUAL, and EDITOR), allowing a local attacker to append arbitrary entries to the list of files to process. This can lead to privilege escalation. Affected versions are 1.8.0 through 1.9.12.p1. The problem exists because a user-specified editor may contain a "--" argument that defeats a protection mechanism, e.g., an EDITOR='vim -- /path/to/extra/file' value.

    Published:Jan 18, 2023
    Last Modified:Apr 4, 2025
    EPS:Jan 18, 2023
    EPSS Score:0.43244
    CVSS Score:7.8

    Affected Products

    Vendor
    Apple
    Product
    Macos
    Vendor
    Debian
    Product
    Debian Linux
    Vendor
    Fedoraproject
    Product
    Fedora
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Enterprise Linux
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Rhel Aus
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Rhel E4s
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Rhel Els
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Rhel Eus
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Rhel Tus
    Vendor
    Redhat
    Product
    Rhev Hypervisor
    Vendor
    Sudo Project
    Product
    Sudo

    Exploits

    http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/01/19/1https://www.sudo.ws/security/advisories/sudoedit_any/https://www.synacktiv.com/sites/default/files/2023-01/sudo-CVE-2023-22809.pdfhttp://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/01/19/1https://www.sudo.ws/security/advisories/sudoedit_any/https://www.synacktiv.com/sites/default/files/2023-01/sudo-CVE-2023-22809.pdfhttps://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/51217https://github.com/asepsaepdin/CVE-2023-22809https://github.com/Chan9Yan9/CVE-2023-22809https://github.com/D0rDa4aN919/CVE-2023-22809-Exploiterhttps://github.com/hello4r1end/patch_CVE-2023-22809https://github.com/laxmiyamkolu/SUDO-privilege-escalationhttps://github.com/M4fiaB0y/CVE-2023-22809https://github.com/n3m1sys/CVE-2023-22809-sudoedit-priveschttps://github.com/P4x1s/CVE-2023-22809-sudo-POChttps://github.com/pashayogi/CVE-2023-22809https://github.com/Spydomain/CVE-2023-22809-automated-python-exploitshttps://github.com/Toothless5143/CVE-2023-22809https://github.com/ValeuDoamne/CVE-2023-22809

    Common Weakness Enumeration

    CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management

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    References

    http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/171644/sudo-1.9.12p1-Privilege-Escalation.html
    http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/172509/Sudoedit-Extra-Arguments-Privilege-Escalation.html
    http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/174234/Cisco-ThousandEyes-Enterprise-Agent-Virtual-Appliance-Arbitrary-File-Modification.html
    http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2023/Aug/21
    http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/01/19/1
    https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/01/msg00012.html
    https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/2QDGFCGAV5QRJCE6IXRXIS4XJHS57DDH/
    https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/G4YNBTTKTRT2ME3NTSXAPTOKYUE47XHZ/
    https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202305-12
    https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230127-0015/
    https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213758
    https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5321
    https://www.sudo.ws/security/advisories/sudoedit_any/
    https://www.synacktiv.com/sites/default/files/2023-01/sudo-CVE-2023-22809.pdf
    http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/171644/sudo-1.9.12p1-Privilege-Escalation.html
    http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/172509/Sudoedit-Extra-Arguments-Privilege-Escalation.html
    http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/174234/Cisco-ThousandEyes-Enterprise-Agent-Virtual-Appliance-Arbitrary-File-Modification.html
    http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2023/Aug/21
    http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/01/19/1
    https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/01/msg00012.html
    https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/2QDGFCGAV5QRJCE6IXRXIS4XJHS57DDH/
    https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/G4YNBTTKTRT2ME3NTSXAPTOKYUE47XHZ/
    https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202305-12
    https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230127-0015/
    https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213758
    https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5321
    https://www.sudo.ws/security/advisories/sudoedit_any/
    https://www.synacktiv.com/sites/default/files/2023-01/sudo-CVE-2023-22809.pdf

    Common Vulnerability Scoring System

    Attack Vector
    Network
    Adjacent
    Local
    Physical
    Privileges Required
    None
    Low
    High
    User Interaction
    None
    Required
    Scope
    Unchanged
    Changed
    Confidentiality
    None
    Low
    High
    Integrity
    None
    Low
    High
    Availability
    None
    Low
    High