What is CVE-2019-13272?

CVE-2019-13272 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10. CVE-2019-13272 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, confirming active exploitation in the wild.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2019-13272?

CVE-2019-13272 has a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, rated High severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2019-13272?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2019-13272. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.

Is CVE-2019-13272 actively exploited?

Yes — CVE-2019-13272 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, confirming active exploitation in the wild with a CVSS score of 7.8 (High severity).

CVE-2019-13272

High KEV — Actively Exploited

In the Linux kernel before 5.1.17, ptrace_link in kernel/ptrace.c mishandles the recording of the credentials of a process that wants to create a ptrace relationship, which allows local users to obtain root access by leveraging certain scenarios with a parent-child process relationship, where a parent drops privileges and calls execve (potentially allowing control by an attacker). One contributing factor is an object lifetime issue (which can also cause a panic). Another contributing factor is incorrect marking of a ptrace relationship as privileged, which is exploitable through (for example) Polkit's pkexec helper with PTRACE_TRACEME. NOTE: SELinux deny_ptrace might be a usable workaround in some environments.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2019-07-17

Last modified 2025-11-06

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Awaiting data

CVSS 3.1 score

7.8

out of 10

High

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2019-13272 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Packet Storm
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/153663/Linux-PTRACE_TRACEME-Broken-Permission-Object-Lifetime-Handling.html

Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
Packet Storm
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/153702/Slackware-Security-Advisory-Slackware-14.2-kernel-Updates.html

Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
Packet Storm
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154245/Kernel-Live-Patch-Security-Notice-LSN-0054-1.html

Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
Packet Storm
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154957/Linux-Polkit-pkexec-Helper-PTRACE_TRACEME-Local-Root.html

Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
Packet Storm
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156929/Linux-PTRACE_TRACEME-Local-Root.html

Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
Packet Storm
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165051/Linux-Kernel-5.1.x-PTRACE_TRACEME-pkexec-Local-Privilege-Escalation.html

Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
Red Hat
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2405

Third Party Advisory
Red Hat
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2411

Third Party Advisory
Red Hat
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2809

Third Party Advisory
Debian Security
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/07/msg00022.html

Mailing List Third Party Advisory
Debian Security
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/07/msg00023.html

Mailing List Third Party Advisory
Lists
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/OGRK5LYWBJ4E4SRI4DKX367NHYSI3VOH/

Release Notes
Seclists
https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Jul/30

Issue Tracking Mailing List Third Party Advisory
Seclists
https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Jul/33

Issue Tracking Mailing List Third Party Advisory
Security
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190806-0001/

Third Party Advisory
Support
https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K91025336

Third Party Advisory
Support
https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K91025336?utm_source=f5support&amp%3Butm_medium=RSS

Third Party Advisory
Ubuntu Security
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4093-1/

Third Party Advisory
Ubuntu Security
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4094-1/

Third Party Advisory
Ubuntu Security
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4095-1/

Third Party Advisory
Ubuntu Security
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4117-1/

Third Party Advisory
Ubuntu Security
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4118-1/

Third Party Advisory
Debian Security
https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4484

Third Party Advisory
CISA
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2019-13272

US Government Resource
Kernel patch commit
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1903
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1730895
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1140671
Patch

6 patch commits total View all on NVD

Details

CVE ID CVE-2019-13272

Severity High

CVSS score 7.8 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2019-07-17

Modified 2025-11-06

KEV Yes

Patch Awaiting data

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-13272?

CVE-2019-13272 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10 . CVE-2019-13272 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, confirming active exploitation in the wild.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2019-13272?

CVE-2019-13272 has a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, rated High severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2019-13272?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2019-13272. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.
Is CVE-2019-13272 actively exploited?

Yes — CVE-2019-13272 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, confirming active exploitation in the wild. It carries a CVSS score of 7.8 (High severity).