# CVE-2019-8790: Information disclosure in Swift for Ubuntu

> Incorrect file descriptor management in Swift's URLSession on Ubuntu allows attackers to inadvertently disclose sensitive data.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **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:** 27 Oct 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-5v59-m956-6fv5

## What is CVE-2019-8790?

CVE-2019-8790 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple Swift for Ubuntu, published on 27 Oct 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

This issue was addresses by updating incorrect URLSession file descriptors management logic to match Swift 5.0. This issue is fixed in Swift 5.1.1 for Ubuntu. Incorrect management of file descriptors in URLSession could lead to inadvertent data disclosure.

Weakness: CWE-922 (Insecure Storage of Sensitive Information)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-8790?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Apple Swift.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-8790?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-8790 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-8790 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-8790 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Apple Swift for Ubuntu

- [CVE-2018-4220](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-4220/): Privilege escalation in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2022-1642](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-1642/): Swift-corelibs-foundation denial of service in JSON decoding with JSONDecoder (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2020-9861](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-9861/): Denial of service in Swift 5.1.5 for Linux (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-8790 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-8790 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple Swift for Ubuntu, published on 27 Oct 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-8790 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Apple Swift for Ubuntu. 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-2019-8790/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-8790/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-8790
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-8790
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-8790

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-8790/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.