Exploited CVE from 2019, added in 2021

CVE-2019-13272

Linux Kernel Improper Privilege Management Vulnerability

At a glance

Exploited. Added to CISA’s catalog of exploited vulnerabilities on December 10, 2021.

Affected product: Linux Kernel (category Operating systems, indicative classification). Name in CISA’s catalog: Linux Kernel.

What should I do?

Apply the security update from Linux.

Deadline set by CISA for US federal agencies: 182 days (due June 10, 2022). It only binds those agencies, but it is a useful measure of urgency.

Linux security advisories page (general page, not the advisory for this vulnerability)
The vendor’s specific advisory is listed in the NVD references: CVE-2019-13272 on the NVD website.

Original text of the required action (CISA)

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Timeline

July 17, 2019 Vulnerability published Publication date (NVD)
December 10, 2021 Exploitation confirmed Added to CISA’s KEV catalog
June 10, 2022 CISA deadline Remediation deadline set for US federal agencies

The facts, with their sources

Exploitation confirmed: Yes, on December 10, 2021 Date added to the catalog of exploited vulnerabilities. Exploitation itself may have started earlier. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Ransomware: No known use to date That does not guarantee it is not being used: the information is not public. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Hunt for compromise: Not requested by CISA Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CISA required action: Apply the security update from Linux. Rewritten by this site from CISA’s original text. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CISA deadline: June 10, 2022, 182 days Set for US federal agencies: a measure of urgency, not an obligation elsewhere. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Vulnerability published: July 17, 2019 Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC
Product according to CISA: Linux Kernel Filed by this site under “Operating systems” (indicative classification). Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Technical detail of the score: attack vector, complexity, impact. Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC

Severity and activity

7.8 / 10 CVSS severity: high

Score from the NVD. Collected Sep 29, 2026.

— Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS)

FIRST’s EPSS model. Since exploitation is already confirmed, this figure is mostly useful to compare activity. Collected Sep 29, 2026.

Description

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.

Kernel/ptrace.c in Linux kernel mishandles contains an improper privilege management vulnerability that allows local users to obtain root access.

Summary from CISA (KEV catalog).

CERT-FR advisories

No advisory among the latest CERT-FR publications this site follows. That does not mean there are none.

Information reused under the Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab); the date of last update is shown for each advisory. This site is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by ANSSI.

Sources for this page

CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, required action, deadline, ransomware.
NVD (NIST): CVSS severity, publication date, description, vendor references.
EPSS (FIRST): probability of exploitation.
CERT-FR: advisories and alerts (in French).
Brand and category: indicative classification by this site (method).