CVE-2019-11485

Crash handling denial via user-controllable lock file

Published Feb 8, 2020 · Updated Sep 16, 2024

Lock-file handling in Canonical Apport on affected Ubuntu releases allows local users to prevent system crash handling. Apport uses /var/crash/.lock as an advisory concurrency guard even though /var/crash is world-writable, allowing an unprivileged user to precreate or replace that predictable path. Local low-privilege access is sufficient; interference with the lock prevents Apport from processing later crashes without affecting confidentiality or integrity.

CVSS severity3.3
Low
EPSS probability0.26%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Lock-file handling in Canonical Apport on affected Ubuntu releases allows local users to prevent system crash handling. Apport uses /var/crash/.lock as an advisory concurrency guard even though /var/crash is world-writable, allowing an unprivileged user to precreate or replace that predictable path. Local low-privilege access is sufficient; interference with the lock prevents Apport from processing later crashes without affecting confidentiality or integrity.

The record

CVE
CVE-2019-11485
Published
Feb 8, 2020
Updated
Sep 16, 2024
Vendor
Canonical
Product
Apport
Classifications
CWE-412, CAPEC-25
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 8, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 16, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=2.14.1 <2.14.1-0ubuntu3.29+esm2
  2. Affected versionversion=2.20.11 <2.20.11-0ubuntu8.1
  3. Affected versionversion=2.20.1 <2.20.1-0ubuntu2.20
  4. Affected versionversion=2.20.9 <2.20.9-0ubuntu7.8

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Canonical · Apportversion=2.14.1 <2.14.1-0ubuntu3.29+esm2; version=2.20.11 <2.20.11-0ubuntu8.1; version=2.20.1 <2.20.1-0ubuntu2.20; version=2.20.9 <2.20.9-0ubuntu7.8

Published CVSS scores

2.1NIST NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
3.3Canonical Ltd.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-412Unrestricted Externally Accessible Lock
CAPEC-25Forced Deadlock

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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