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.
CVE-2019-13272
“▲” beside the score: it is higher than NVD's CVSS score.
Score elevated to 9.0 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-12-10), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 7.8 retained for reference. The 9.0 is the floor for confirmed exploitation, not an impact rating: this CVE's impact severity (EG Severity) is CVSS 7.8 HIGH under GitHub Security Advisory CVSS. Confidence: HIGH.
Also known asEUVD-2019-4779 (ENISA EUVD) · GHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h (GitHub Security Advisories)Source: ENISA EUVD
- Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV) — the reason this is sooner than the SSVC decision on this page at low or medium mission impact
A fix is available — apply it.
- CVSS v3
- 7.8
- EG Score
- 9.0CRITICALhigh confidence
- EG Risk
- 75EG Risk 75/100
EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score. It fuses impact severity (EG Severity, the CVSS base score, never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score) with real-world exploitation and automatability, under weights EchelonGraph set by hand, so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner.
How it’s computed (value × EchelonGraph’s weight)Severity78% × 45%Impact severity (EG Severity): CVSS 7.8 of 10. Never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score.Exploitation100% × 40%Fixed at 100% for a CISA KEV listing: EchelonGraph's rule.Automatability0% × 15%CISA's SSVC Automatable value: no (Vulnrichment).SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph): Track at low, Attend at medium and Act at high mission impact.Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE.Action: A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low, sooner than that at medium and as soon as possible at high mission impact. - EPSS PROB
- 52%
- EPSS %ILE
- 98th
- KEV
- ⚠ Exploited
What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)
The EG score (9.0): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 9.0 is the CISA KEV floor for confirmed exploitation, not an impact rating: its impact severity (EG Severity) is CVSS 7.8 HIGH.
- EG Severity
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
- EG Likelihood
- 52% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-11-01). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
- Confirmed exploitation
- CISA KEV and EG-KEV Tier 1 (exploited in the wild)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
- EG Priority
- SSVC Attend at medium mission impactTrack at low, Attend at medium and Act at high mission impact.CISA BOD 26-04: 3 days & forensic triage if the affected system is publicly exposed; 14 days if it is not.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at low, Attend at medium and Act at high mission impact.
A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low, sooner than that at medium and as soon as possible at high mission impact.
Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table
BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)3 days & forensic triage if the affected system is publicly exposed; 14 days if it is not.
The score's inputs: In CISA KEV yes (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it
CISA required action“Apply updates per vendor instructions.”
Quoted verbatim from CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. CISA directs it at US federal civilian executive branch agencies under Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 26-04, which replaced BOD 22-01 on 10 June 2026; it is not EchelonGraph's advice. CISA's notes: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-13272
Published
July 17, 2019
Last Modified
November 6, 2025
Advisory Details (10)
Auto-updated Oct 26, 2026Affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2809Affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2411Affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2405Packet Storm
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165051/Linux-Kernel-5.1.x-PTRACE_TRACEME-pkexec-Local-Privilege-Escalation.htmlPacket Storm
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156929/Linux-PTRACE_TRACEME-Local-Root.htmlPacket Storm
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154957/Linux-Polkit-pkexec-Helper-PTRACE_TRACEME-Local-Root.htmlPacket Storm
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154245/Kernel-Live-Patch-Security-Notice-LSN-0054-1.htmlPatch Availability(8)
| Vendor / Ecosystem | Fix (by version range) / Patch | Released | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ubuntu | linux-image-5.0.0-1014-aws (5.0.0-1014.16) @ disco | 2026-11-01 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | linux-image-aws-hwe (4.15.0.1047.47) @ xenial | 2026-11-01 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | linux-image-virtual-lts-xenial (4.4.0.159.167) @ xenial | 2026-11-01 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | linux-image-virtual-hwe-16.04 (4.15.0.58.79) @ xenial | 2026-11-01 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | linux-image-virtual (5.0.0.25.26) @ disco | 2026-11-01 | ubuntu |
| redhat | kernel-alt-0:4.14.0-115.12.1.el7a | 2019-09-20 | redhat |
| redhat | kernel-rt-0:4.18.0-80.7.2.rt9.154.el8_0 | 2019-08-07 | redhat |
| redhat | kernel-0:4.18.0-80.7.2.el8_0 | 2019-08-07 | redhat |
Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.
Affected Packages
(8 across 7 ecosystems)
Debian:8(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| linux | 3.16.36-1 ... 3.16.7-ckt9-3~deb8u1~bpo70+1 (65 versions) |
| — |
| linux-4.9 | 4.9.110-1~deb8u1, 4.9.144-3.1~deb8u1, 4.9.168-1~deb8u1 |
| — |
Debian:10(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| linux | 4.19.37-5 |
| — |
Debian:11(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| linux | — |
| — |
Debian:12(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| linux | — |
| — |
Debian:13(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| linux | — |
| — |
Debian:14(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| linux | — |
| — |
Debian:9(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| linux | 4.9.107-1 ... 4.9.88-1~bpo8+1 (49 versions) |
| — |
Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
All Vendor Advisories
(8)
Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.
- Red HatRHSA-2019:2405IMPORTANT2019-07-16
RHSA-2019:2405 — Important
- Red HatRHSA-2019:2411IMPORTANT2019-07-16
RHSA-2019:2411 — Important
- Red HatRHSA-2019:2809IMPORTANT2019-07-16
RHSA-2019:2809 — Important
- UbuntuUSN-4093-1HIGH
Linux kernel vulnerabilities
- UbuntuUSN-4094-1HIGH
Linux kernel vulnerabilities
- UbuntuUSN-4095-1HIGH
Linux kernel vulnerabilities
- UbuntuUSN-4117-1HIGH
Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities
- UbuntuUSN-4118-1HIGH
Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 27× in last 7d / 189× in last 30d)
Each row is a time one of our pipelines fetched, updated or re-scored this CVE. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. An arrow marks a change the record states ("CVSS v3 → 9.1"); EPSS and GHSA rows show the values recorded at that time, not what changed (EPSS values are rounded; hover one for the exact figures). Most recent first.
Showing the most recent 100 of 1,752 refreshes on record for this CVE.
A repeat, a row identical to one the same pipeline wrote less than 10 seconds earlier, is not a separate refresh and is not counted. None are among the latest 100 rows. The 1,652 oldest rows on record are not shown and were not checked, so the counts can still include repeats.
- 2026-11-01 22:57 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-11-01 22:57 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-11-01 22:57 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-11-01 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-31 22:14 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-31 22:14 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-31 22:14 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-31 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-30 21:27 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-30 21:27 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-30 21:27 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-30 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-29 20:44 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-29 20:44 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-29 20:44 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-29 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-28 20:00 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-28 20:00 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-28 20:00 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-28 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-27 19:17 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-27 19:17 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-27 19:17 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-27 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-26 18:34 UTCEG score recompute
Show 75 moreShow fewer
- 2026-10-26 18:34 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-26 18:34 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-26 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-25 17:49 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-25 17:49 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-25 17:49 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-25 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-24 17:04 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-24 17:04 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-24 17:04 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-24 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-23 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-23 16:21 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-23 16:21 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-23 16:21 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-22 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-22 15:37 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-22 15:37 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-22 15:36 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-21 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-21 14:53 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-21 14:53 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-21 14:53 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-20 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-20 14:10 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-20 14:10 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-20 14:09 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-19 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-19 13:23 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-19 13:23 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-19 13:23 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-18 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-18 12:40 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-18 12:40 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-18 09:55 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-17 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-17 11:55 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-17 11:55 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-17 11:54 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-16 16:31 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-16 11:09 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-16 11:09 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-16 11:09 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-15 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-15 10:26 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-15 10:26 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-15 10:26 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-14 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-14 09:42 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-14 09:42 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-14 09:42 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-13 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-13 08:57 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-13 08:57 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-12 20:02 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-12 08:14 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-12 08:14 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-12 03:50 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-12 03:50 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-11 23:27 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-11 23:27 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-11 23:27 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-11 19:03 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-11 19:03 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-11 19:03 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-11 14:41 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-11 14:41 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-11 14:41 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-11 13:41 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 52% · 98th percentile
- 2026-10-11 10:17 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-11 10:17 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-11 05:54 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-11 05:54 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
- 2026-10-11 01:32 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-11 01:31 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-87j5-gppq-mq6h · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
Publicly available exploits
(11 references, 10 shown)Public exploit code is referenced for this CVE (1 Metasploit module, 4 Exploit-DB entries, 6 GitHub PoCs). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly.
- Exploit-DBEDB-47543✓ verifiedPublished Oct 24, 2019
Linux Polkit - pkexec helper PTRACE_TRACEME local root (Metasploit)
Open source ↗ - Metasploitexploit/linux/local/ptrace_traceme_pkexec_helper✓ verifiedPublished Oct 23, 2019
Linux Polkit pkexec helper PTRACE_TRACEME local root exploit
Open source ↗ - Exploit-DBEDB-47133✓ verifiedPublished Jul 17, 2019
Linux - Broken Permission and Object Lifetime Handling for PTRACE_TRACEME
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCjosemlwdf/CVE-2019-13272Published Jun 20, 2024
This is a Python 3 version of this exploit. Hope it works!!!
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCMDS1GNAL/ptrace_scope-CVE-2019-13272-privilege-escalationPublished Jan 31, 2024
Es una vulnerabilidad para escalar privilegios en linux.
Open source ↗ - Exploit-DBEDB-50541Published Nov 23, 2021
Linux Kernel 5.1.x - 'PTRACE_TRACEME' pkexec Local Privilege Escalation (2)
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCTharana/vulnerability-exploitationPublished May 12, 2020
Local Root vulnerability- CVE-2019-13272 / Security Bypass Vulnerability – CVE-2019-14287/Google Android - 'Stagefright' Remote Code Execution - CVE-2015-1538
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoConeoy/CVE-2019-13272Published Aug 7, 2019
linux 提权
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCCyc1eC/CVE-2019-13272Published Jul 31, 2019
The exploit for CVE-2019-13272
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCjas502n/CVE-2019-13272Published Jul 31, 2019
Linux 4.10 < 5.1.17 PTRACE_TRACEME local root
Open source ↗
Related CVEs(same product + same vendor + same CWE)
Same product
10 shownDebian:8:linux-4.9
- CVE-2019-10126EG 9.8EPSS p94CRITICAL
- CVE-2019-11479NVD 7.5EG 9.0EPSS p100CRITICAL
- CVE-2019-11478NVD 5.3EG 9.0EPSS p100CRITICAL
- CVE-2019-11477NVD 7.5EG 9.0EPSS p100CRITICAL
- CVE-2017-5753NVD 5.6EG 9.0EPSS p100CRITICAL
- CVE-2019-14821EG 8.8HIGH
- CVE-2019-3846EG 8.8EPSS p93HIGH
- CVE-2018-9363EG 8.4HIGH
- CVE-2019-9503NVD 7.9EG 8.3HIGH
- CVE-2018-20836EG 8.1EPSS p92HIGH
Same vendor
10 shownubuntu:USN-4093-1 · redhat:RHSA-2019:2405 · ubuntu:USN-4094-1
Frequently asked(6)
What is CVE-2019-13272?
When was the CVE record for CVE-2019-13272 published?
Is CVE-2019-13272 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2019-13272?
Which products are affected by CVE-2019-13272?
How do I remediate CVE-2019-13272?
Dependency Blast Radius
See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2019-13272
Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2019-13272?
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