{"id":"UBUNTU-CVE-2023-22809","details":"In Sudo before 1.9.12p2, the sudoedit (aka -e) feature mishandles extra arguments passed in the user-provided environment variables (SUDO_EDITOR, VISUAL, and EDITOR), allowing a local attacker to append arbitrary entries to the list of files to process. This can lead to privilege escalation. Affected versions are 1.8.0 through 1.9.12.p1. The problem exists because a user-specified editor may contain a \"--\" argument that defeats a protection mechanism, e.g., an EDITOR='vim -- /path/to/extra/file' value.","modified":"2026-01-30T02:10:20.457275Z","published":"2023-01-18T00:00:00Z","related":["USN-5811-1","USN-5811-2","USN-5811-3"],"upstream":["CVE-2023-22809"],"references":[{"type":"REPORT","url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-22809"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-5811-1"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-5811-2"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-5811-3"},{"type":"REPORT","url":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-22809"}],"affected":[{"package":{"name":"sudo","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS","purl":"pkg:deb/ubuntu/sudo@1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm7?arch=source&distro=trusty/esm"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm7"}]}],"versions":["1.8.6p3-0ubuntu3","1.8.8-2ubuntu1","1.8.8-2ubuntu2","1.8.9p4-1ubuntu1","1.8.9p4-1ubuntu2","1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1","1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.1","1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.2","1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.3","1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.4","1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm1","1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm2","1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm3","1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm5","1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm6"],"ecosystem_specific":{"binaries":[{"binary_name":"sudo","binary_version":"1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm7"},{"binary_name":"sudo-ldap","binary_version":"1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.5+esm7"}],"availability":"Available with Ubuntu Pro (Infra-only): https://ubuntu.com/pro"},"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2023/UBUNTU-CVE-2023-22809.json"}},{"package":{"name":"sudo","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS","purl":"pkg:deb/ubuntu/sudo@1.8.16-0ubuntu1.10+esm1?arch=source&distro=esm-infra/xenial"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1.8.16-0ubuntu1.10+esm1"}]}],"versions":["1.8.12-1ubuntu3","1.8.16-0ubuntu1","1.8.16-0ubuntu1.1","1.8.16-0ubuntu1.2","1.8.16-0ubuntu1.3","1.8.16-0ubuntu1.4","1.8.16-0ubuntu1.5","1.8.16-0ubuntu1.6","1.8.16-0ubuntu1.7","1.8.16-0ubuntu1.8","1.8.16-0ubuntu1.9","1.8.16-0ubuntu1.10"],"ecosystem_specific":{"binaries":[{"binary_name":"sudo","binary_version":"1.8.16-0ubuntu1.10+esm1"},{"binary_name":"sudo-ldap","binary_version":"1.8.16-0ubuntu1.10+esm1"}],"availability":"Available with Ubuntu Pro (Infra-only): https://ubuntu.com/pro"},"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2023/UBUNTU-CVE-2023-22809.json"}},{"package":{"name":"sudo","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:18.04:LTS","purl":"pkg:deb/ubuntu/sudo@1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1.5?arch=source&distro=bionic"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1.5"}]}],"versions":["1.8.20p2-1ubuntu1","1.8.21p2-2ubuntu1","1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1","1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1.1","1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1.2","1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1.3","1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1.4"],"ecosystem_specific":{"binaries":[{"binary_name":"sudo","binary_version":"1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1.5"},{"binary_name":"sudo-ldap","binary_version":"1.8.21p2-3ubuntu1.5"}],"availability":"No subscription required"},"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2023/UBUNTU-CVE-2023-22809.json"}},{"package":{"name":"sudo","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:20.04:LTS","purl":"pkg:deb/ubuntu/sudo@1.8.31-1ubuntu1.4?arch=source&distro=focal"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1.8.31-1ubuntu1.4"}]}],"versions":["1.8.27-1ubuntu4","1.8.29-1ubuntu1","1.8.31-1ubuntu1","1.8.31-1ubuntu1.1","1.8.31-1ubuntu1.2"],"ecosystem_specific":{"binaries":[{"binary_name":"sudo","binary_version":"1.8.31-1ubuntu1.4"},{"binary_name":"sudo-ldap","binary_version":"1.8.31-1ubuntu1.4"}],"availability":"No subscription required"},"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2023/UBUNTU-CVE-2023-22809.json"}},{"package":{"name":"sudo","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:22.04:LTS","purl":"pkg:deb/ubuntu/sudo@1.9.9-1ubuntu2.2?arch=source&distro=jammy"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1.9.9-1ubuntu2.2"}]}],"versions":["1.9.5p2-3ubuntu2","1.9.9-1ubuntu2","1.9.9-1ubuntu2.1"],"ecosystem_specific":{"binaries":[{"binary_name":"sudo","binary_version":"1.9.9-1ubuntu2.2"},{"binary_name":"sudo-ldap","binary_version":"1.9.9-1ubuntu2.2"}],"availability":"No subscription required"},"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2023/UBUNTU-CVE-2023-22809.json"}}],"schema_version":"1.7.3","severity":[{"type":"CVSS_V3","score":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"},{"type":"CVSS_V3","score":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"},{"type":"Ubuntu","score":"medium"}]}