CVE-2019-19351

Container privilege escalation via writable passwd file

Published Mar 18, 2020 · Updated Aug 5, 2024

Privilege escalation in Red Hat OpenShift 3.11 and OpenShift 4 Jenkins slave base containers allows local users to gain root access. The container image makes /etc/passwd writable by users other than root, allowing an existing container user to add an account. Access to the running container is required, and OpenShift's default seccomp policy blocks the needed SETUID and SETGID calls in unprivileged containers.

CVSS severity7.0
High
EPSS probability0.25%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in Red Hat OpenShift 3.11 and OpenShift 4 Jenkins slave base containers allows local users to gain root access. The container image makes /etc/passwd writable by users other than root, allowing an existing container user to add an account. Access to the running container is required, and OpenShift's default seccomp policy blocks the needed SETUID and SETGID calls in unprivileged containers.

The record

CVE
CVE-2019-19351
Published
Mar 18, 2020
Updated
Aug 5, 2024
Vendor
Red Hat
Product
OpenShift
Classifications
CWE-266, CWE-269, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 18, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 5, 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=Openshift 4 and 3.11

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Red Hat · OpenShiftversion=Openshift 4 and 3.11

Published CVSS scores

7.0Red HatCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.4NIST NVDAV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-266Incorrect Privilege Assignment
CWE-269Improper Privilege Management
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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