# CVE-2019-19726: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can escalate to root privileges by exploiting a memory allocation failure in the dynamic linker when processing setuid programs.

- **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:** No
- **Published:** 12 Dec 2019
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-wj9q-g984-cx8g

## What is CVE-2019-19726?

CVE-2019-19726 is a high-severity vulnerability in Openbsd Openbsd, published on 12 Dec 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

OpenBSD through 6.6 allows local users to escalate to root because a check for LD_LIBRARY_PATH in setuid programs can be defeated by setting a very small RLIMIT_DATA resource limit. When executing chpass or passwd (which are setuid root), _dl_setup_env in ld.so tries to strip LD_LIBRARY_PATH from the environment, but fails when it cannot allocate memory. Thus, the attacker is able to execute their own library code as root.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-19726?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Openbsd Openbsd.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-19726?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-19726 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-19726 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2019-19726 exists.

Public exploit code:

- OpenBSD Dynamic Loader chpass Privilege Escalation (metasploit)
- OpenBSD 6.x - Dynamic Loader Privilege Escalation (exploitdb)
- OpenBSD - Dynamic Loader chpass Privilege Escalation (Metasploit) (exploitdb)
- OpenBSD - Dynamic Loader chpass Privilege Escalation (Metasploit) (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Openbsd Openbsd

- [CVE-2007-1365](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-1365/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-0220](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0220/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-0083](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0083/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-0084](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0084/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2001-0284](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2001-0284/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-19726 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-19726 is a high-severity vulnerability in Openbsd Openbsd, published on 12 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-2019-19726 exists.

Affected product: Openbsd Openbsd. 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-2019-19726/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-19726/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-19726
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-19726
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-19726

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-19726/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.