CVE-2019-18897

Root privilege escalation via package-upgrade symlink

Published Mar 2, 2020 · Updated Sep 17, 2024

Symlink following in Salt packaging for SLES 12, SLES 15, and openSUSE Factory allows local users to escalate from salt to root. During a salt-master package upgrade, privileged packaging operations follow a filesystem link controlled by the salt account instead of safely resolving the intended path. The attacker must already control the local salt service account and wait for or induce a privileged salt-master upgrade; successful exploitation grants root-level control.

CVSS severity8.4
High
EPSS probability0.39%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Symlink following in Salt packaging for SLES 12, SLES 15, and openSUSE Factory allows local users to escalate from salt to root. During a salt-master package upgrade, privileged packaging operations follow a filesystem link controlled by the salt account instead of safely resolving the intended path. The attacker must already control the local salt service account and wait for or induce a privileged salt-master upgrade; successful exploitation grants root-level control.

The record

CVE
CVE-2019-18897
Published
Mar 2, 2020
Updated
Sep 17, 2024
Vendor
SUSE
Product
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Classifications
CWE-59, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 2, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 17, 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=salt-master <=2019.2.0-46.83.1
  2. Affected versionversion=salt-master <=2019.2.0-6.21.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

SUSE · SUSE Linux Enterprise Serverversion=salt-master <=2019.2.0-46.83.1; version=salt-master <=2019.2.0-6.21.1
OpenSUSE · openSUSE Factoryversion=salt-master <=2019.2.2-3.1

Published CVSS scores

8.4SUSECVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.2NIST NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
7.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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-59Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

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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