ubuntu-cve-2023-22809
Vulnerability from osv_ubuntu
Published
2023-01-18 00:00
Modified
2025-09-08 16:56
Summary
Details
In Sudo before 1.9.12p2, the sudoedit (aka -e) feature mishandles extra arguments passed in the user-provided environment variables (SUDO_EDITOR, VISUAL, and EDITOR), allowing a local attacker to append arbitrary entries to the list of files to process. This can lead to privilege escalation. Affected versions are 1.8.0 through 1.9.12.p1. The problem exists because a user-specified editor may contain a "--" argument that defeats a protection mechanism, e.g., an EDITOR='vim -- /path/to/extra/file' value.
Severity
7.8 (High)
7.8 (High)
N/A (UNKNOWN)
References
{
"affected": [
{
"ecosystem_specific": {
"availability": "Available with Ubuntu Pro (Infra-only): https://ubuntu.com/pro",
"binaries": [
{
"binary_name": "sudo",
"binary_version": "1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm7"
},
{
"binary_name": "sudo-ldap",
"binary_version": "1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm7"
}
]
},
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS",
"name": "sudo",
"purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/sudo@1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm7?arch=source\u0026distro=trusty/esm"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm7"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
],
"versions": [
"1.8.6p3-0ubuntu3",
"1.8.8-2ubuntu1",
"1.8.8-2ubuntu2",
"1.8.9p4-1ubuntu1",
"1.8.9p4-1ubuntu2",
"1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1",
"1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.1",
"1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.2",
"1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.3",
"1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.4",
"1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm1",
"1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm2",
"1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm3",
"1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm5",
"1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm6"
]
},
{
"ecosystem_specific": {
"availability": "Available with Ubuntu Pro (Infra-only): https://ubuntu.com/pro",
"binaries": [
{
"binary_name": "sudo",
"binary_version": "1.8.16-0ubuntu1.10+esm1"
},
{
"binary_name": "sudo-ldap",
"binary_version": "1.8.16-0ubuntu1.10+esm1"
}
]
},
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS",
"name": "sudo",
"purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/sudo@1.8.16-0ubuntu1.10+esm1?arch=source\u0026distro=esm-infra/xenial"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "1.8.16-0ubuntu1.10+esm1"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
],
"versions": [
"1.8.12-1ubuntu3",
"1.8.16-0ubuntu1",
"1.8.16-0ubuntu1.1",
"1.8.16-0ubuntu1.2",
"1.8.16-0ubuntu1.3",
"1.8.16-0ubuntu1.4",
"1.8.16-0ubuntu1.5",
"1.8.16-0ubuntu1.6",
"1.8.16-0ubuntu1.7",
"1.8.16-0ubuntu1.8",
"1.8.16-0ubuntu1.9",
"1.8.16-0ubuntu1.10"
]
},
{
"ecosystem_specific": {
"availability": "No subscription required",
"binaries": [
{
"binary_name": "sudo",
"binary_version": "1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1.5"
},
{
"binary_name": "sudo-ldap",
"binary_version": "1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1.5"
}
]
},
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Ubuntu:18.04:LTS",
"name": "sudo",
"purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/sudo@1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1.5?arch=source\u0026distro=bionic"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1.5"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
],
"versions": [
"1.8.20p2-1ubuntu1",
"1.8.21p2-2ubuntu1",
"1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1",
"1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1.1",
"1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1.2",
"1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1.3",
"1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1.4"
]
},
{
"ecosystem_specific": {
"availability": "No subscription required",
"binaries": [
{
"binary_name": "sudo",
"binary_version": "1.8.31-1ubuntu1.4"
},
{
"binary_name": "sudo-ldap",
"binary_version": "1.8.31-1ubuntu1.4"
}
]
},
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Ubuntu:20.04:LTS",
"name": "sudo",
"purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/sudo@1.8.31-1ubuntu1.4?arch=source\u0026distro=focal"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "1.8.31-1ubuntu1.4"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
],
"versions": [
"1.8.27-1ubuntu4",
"1.8.29-1ubuntu1",
"1.8.31-1ubuntu1",
"1.8.31-1ubuntu1.1",
"1.8.31-1ubuntu1.2"
]
},
{
"ecosystem_specific": {
"availability": "No subscription required",
"binaries": [
{
"binary_name": "sudo",
"binary_version": "1.9.9-1ubuntu2.2"
},
{
"binary_name": "sudo-ldap",
"binary_version": "1.9.9-1ubuntu2.2"
}
]
},
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Ubuntu:22.04:LTS",
"name": "sudo",
"purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/sudo@1.9.9-1ubuntu2.2?arch=source\u0026distro=jammy"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "1.9.9-1ubuntu2.2"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
],
"versions": [
"1.9.5p2-3ubuntu2",
"1.9.9-1ubuntu2",
"1.9.9-1ubuntu2.1"
]
}
],
"aliases": [],
"details": "In Sudo before 1.9.12p2, the sudoedit (aka -e) feature mishandles extra arguments passed in the user-provided environment variables (SUDO_EDITOR, VISUAL, and EDITOR), allowing a local attacker to append arbitrary entries to the list of files to process. This can lead to privilege escalation. Affected versions are 1.8.0 through 1.9.12.p1. The problem exists because a user-specified editor may contain a \"--\" argument that defeats a protection mechanism, e.g., an EDITOR=\u0027vim -- /path/to/extra/file\u0027 value.",
"id": "UBUNTU-CVE-2023-22809",
"modified": "2025-09-08T16:56:06Z",
"published": "2023-01-18T00:00:00Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "REPORT",
"url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-22809"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-5811-1"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-5811-2"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-5811-3"
},
{
"type": "REPORT",
"url": "https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-22809"
}
],
"related": [
"USN-5811-1",
"USN-5811-2",
"USN-5811-3"
],
"schema_version": "1.7.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
},
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
},
{
"score": "medium",
"type": "Ubuntu"
}
],
"upstream": [
"CVE-2023-22809"
]
}
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Experimental. This forecast is provided for visualization only and may change without notice. Do not use it for operational decisions.
Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
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