In Sudo through 1.9.17p2 before 3e474c2, a failure of a setuid, setgid, or setgroups call, during a privilege drop before running the mailer, is not a fatal error and can lead to privilege escalation.
Weakness
The product does not drop privileges before passing control of a resource to an actor that does not have those privileges.
Affected Software
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sudo | Sudo_project | * | 1.9.17 (excluding) |
| Sudo | Sudo_project | 1.9.17 (including) | 1.9.17 (including) |
| Sudo | Sudo_project | 1.9.17-p1 (including) | 1.9.17-p1 (including) |
| Sudo | Sudo_project | 1.9.17-p2 (including) | 1.9.17-p2 (including) |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | RedHat | sudo-0:1.9.15-10.p5.el10_1 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | RedHat | sudo-0:1.9.17-4.p2.el10_2 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update Support | RedHat | sudo-0:1.9.15-8.p5.el10_0.3 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Extended Lifecycle Support - EXTENSION | RedHat | sudo-0:1.8.6p3-29.el6_10.8 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Extended Lifecycle Support | RedHat | sudo-0:1.8.23-10.el7_9.5 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | RedHat | sudo-0:1.9.5p2-1.el8_10.5 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support | RedHat | sudo-0:1.9.5p2-1.el8_6.3 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Telecommunications Update Service | RedHat | sudo-0:1.9.5p2-1.el8_6.3 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Update Services for SAP Solutions | RedHat | sudo-0:1.9.5p2-1.el8_6.3 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update Service | RedHat | sudo-0:1.9.5p2-1.el8_8.3 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Update Services for SAP Solutions | RedHat | sudo-0:1.9.5p2-1.el8_8.3 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | RedHat | sudo-0:1.9.5p2-15.el9_7 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | RedHat | sudo-0:1.9.17p2-3.el9_8 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | RedHat | sudo-0:1.9.5p2-15.el9_7 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | RedHat | sudo-0:1.9.17p2-3.el9_8 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Update Services for SAP Solutions | RedHat | sudo-0:1.9.5p2-7.el9_0.6 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Update Services for SAP Solutions | RedHat | sudo-0:1.9.5p2-9.el9_2.4 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 Extended Update Support | RedHat | sudo-0:1.9.5p2-10.el9_4.3 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support | RedHat | sudo-0:1.9.5p2-10.el9_6.3 | * |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 | RedHat | rhcos-412.86.202605271418-0 | * |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13 | RedHat | rhcos-413.92.202605271328-0 | * |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 | RedHat | rhcos-415.92.202606030318-0 | * |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.16 | RedHat | rhcos-416.94.202605200242-0 | * |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18 | RedHat | rhcos-418.94.202605260517-0 | * |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.19 | RedHat | rhcos-4.19.9.6.202605201155-0 | * |
| Red Hat Update Infrastructure 5 | RedHat | rhui5/installer-rhel9:1779798165 | * |
| Red Hat Update Infrastructure 5 | RedHat | rhui5/rhua-rhel9:1779798222 | * |
| Sudo | Ubuntu | devel | * |
| Sudo | Ubuntu | jammy | * |
| Sudo | Ubuntu | noble | * |
| Sudo | Ubuntu | questing | * |
| Sudo | Ubuntu | upstream | * |
Potential Mitigations
- Compartmentalize the system to have “safe” areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area.
- Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.
References
- https://bugs.debian.org/1130593
- https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/sudo/+bug/2143042
- https://github.com/sudo-project/sudo/commit/3e474c2f201484be83d994ae10a4e20e8c81bb69
- https://www.qualys.com/2026/03/10/crack-armor.txt
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2026/06/msg00003.html
- https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-253495.html