CVE-2023-22809
In Sudo before 1.9.12p2, the sudoedit (aka -e) feature mishandles extra arguments passed in the user-provided environment variables…
- 7.8HighCVSS base score
- 55.4%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 1.0% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 2Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
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.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list a Metasploit module and an Exploit-DB entry for it.
Show the exploits2
Metasploit modules1 module
- Sudoedit Extra Arguments Priv Esc (Metasploit module) (opens in a new tab)
exploit/linux/local/sudoedit_bypass_priv_escRank excellentdisclosed 18 Jan 2023
Exploit-DB1 entry
- sudo 1.8.0 to 1.9.12p1 - Privilege Escalation (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 51217local, linuxpublished 3 Apr 2023Not verified
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
- 12 days later
· 12 days later
Published
- 2 years later
· 2 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CISA-ADPADP (enrichment) | 3.1 | High7.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.1 | High7.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 55.4% · top 1.0% of all CVEs (12 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.8.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
References14
- https://www.synacktiv.com/sites/default/files/2023-01/sudo-CVE-2023-22809.pdf (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
- https://www.sudo.ws/security/advisories/sudoedit_any/ (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
- [debian-lts-announce] 20230118 [SECURITY] [DLA 3272-1] sudo security update (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
- DSA-5321 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
- [oss-security] 20230119 CVE-2023-22809: Sudoedit can edit arbitrary files (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
- FEDORA-2023-9078f609e6 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230127-0015/ (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
- FEDORA-2023-298c136eee (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/171644/sudo-1.9.12p1-Privilege-Escalation.html (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
- GLSA-202305-12 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
- https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213758 (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/172509/Sudoedit-Extra-Arguments-Privilege-Escalation.html (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
- 20230817 KL-001-2023-003: Cisco ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent Virtual Appliance Arbitrary File Modification via sudoedit (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/174234/Cisco-ThousandEyes-Enterprise-Agent-Virtual-Appliance-Arbitrary-File-Modification.html (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2023-26921 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2023-22809)Record last updated .