# CVE-2019-14865: Denial of service in grub2 > A local attacker can cause system unbootability by truncating GRUB configuration files via resource pressure attacks. - **Severity:** Medium 5.9 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H`) - **Exploited in the wild:** Not known - **Login needed:** Any signed-in user - **Attackable:** Local or same network only - **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something - **Fix available:** Yes - **Published:** 29 Nov 2019 - **Updated:** 13 Feb 2025 - **Also known as:** GHSA-5c3m-78cg-3wpv, RHSA-2020:0335 ## What is CVE-2019-14865? CVE-2019-14865 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in [UNKNOWN] grub2, published on 29 Nov 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link. ### Official description A flaw was found in the grub2-set-bootflag utility of grub2. A local attacker could run this utility under resource pressure (for example by setting RLIMIT), causing grub2 configuration files to be truncated and leaving the system unbootable on subsequent reboots. Weakness: CWE-267 (Privilege Defined With Unsafe Actions) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-14865? It affects 1 product. | Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `grub2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-common` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-debugsource` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-efi-aa64` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-efi-aa64-cdboot` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-efi-aa64-modules` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-efi-ia32` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-efi-ia32-cdboot` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-efi-ia32-modules` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-efi-x64` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-efi-x64-cdboot` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-efi-x64-modules` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-pc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-pc-modules` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-ppc64le` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-ppc64le-modules` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-tools` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-tools-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-tools-efi` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-tools-efi-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-tools-extra` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-tools-extra-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-tools-minimal` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | | `grub2-tools-minimal-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 1:2.02-78.el8_1.1 | Products: Gnu Grub2. ## How do I fix CVE-2019-14865? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2019-14865 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-14865 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Other vulnerabilities in [UNKNOWN] grub2 - [CVE-2024-56737](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-56737/): Memory corruption in GRUB2 (high 8.8) - [CVE-2022-28733](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-28733/): Integer underflow in grub_net_recv_ip4_packets (high 8.1) - [CVE-2022-28734](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-28734/): Out-of-bounds write when handling split HTTP headers (high 8.1) - [CVE-2025-61662](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-61662/): Grub2: missing unregister call for gettext command may lead to use-after-free (high 7.8) - [CVE-2024-45782](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-45782/): Grub2: fs/hfs: strcpy() using the volume name (fs/hfs.c:382) (high 7.8) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2019-14865 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2019-14865 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in [UNKNOWN] grub2, published on 29 Nov 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link. Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-14865 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected product: [UNKNOWN] grub2. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page. Task: 1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies. 2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it. 3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead. 4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why. 5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing. Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-14865/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-14865/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-14865 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-14865 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-14865 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-14865/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.