# CVE-2019-19241: Privilege escalation in n/a

> An attacker can escalate privileges to root by exploiting io_uring worker threads that ignore user context, bypassing network restrictions.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 17 Dec 2019
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2019-19241, GHSA-wxfp-qr5h-g4wx, UBUNTU-CVE-2019-19241

## What is CVE-2019-19241?

CVE-2019-19241 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 17 Dec 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel before 5.4.2, the io_uring feature leads to requests that inadvertently have UID 0 and full capabilities, aka CID-181e448d8709. This is related to fs/io-wq.c, fs/io_uring.c, and net/socket.c. For example, an attacker can bypass intended restrictions on adding an IPv4 address to the loopback interface. This occurs because IORING_OP_SENDMSG operations, although requested in the context of an unprivileged user, are sometimes performed by a kernel worker thread without considering that context.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-19241?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-19241?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2019-19241 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2019-19241 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Linux 5.3 - Privilege Escalation via io_uring Offload of sendmsg() onto Kernel Thread with Kernel Creds (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-19241 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-19241 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 17 Dec 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2019-19241 exists.

Affected product: Linux kernel. 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-2019-19241/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-19241/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-19241
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-19241
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-19241

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-19241/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.