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CVE-2023-22809

📛 CVE Title

CVE-2023-22809

⬇ Download JSON

Description

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.

Overview

State
PUBLISHED
Assigner (CNA)
mitre
CVSS severity
MEDIUM
CVSS score
CVSS 5.0 / 10 5.0 5.0 / 10
CVSS vector
AV:L/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C
Effective score
5.0 / 10 MEDIUM source: CNA overview
MSRC score
7.8 / 10 HIGH MS rating: Important
CWE(s)
CWE-269
Reserved
2023-01-06
Published
2023-01-18 01:00 UTC
Last updated
2025-04-04 17:45 UTC
Source
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/main/cves/2023/22xxx/CVE-2023-22809.json

NVD triage scoring NVD CVE 2.0

Layer NVD adds on top of the CNA's CVE record — published / last-modified timestamps, exploitability / impact subscores, and the FIRST.org EPSS probability that this CVE will be exploited in the wild in the next 30 days.

NVD published
2023-01-18 17:15:10 UTC
NVD last modified
2026-06-17 05:36:13 UTC
NVD CVSS v3.1
CVSS 7.8 / 10 7.8 7.8 / 10 HIGH source: nvd@nist.gov
NVD CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploitability subscore
1.8 / 10
Impact subscore
5.9 / 10
EPSS score
0.5537 (probability of exploitation in next 30 days)
EPSS percentile
98.93% vs all CVEs — higher = more likely to be exploited, as of 2026-07-27

NVD / KEV / EPSS data refreshed 2026-07-27 14:49 UTC. Re-run the 🛰 Backfill from NVD button above to refresh.

European Union Vulnerability Database ENISA EUVD

ENISA's official EU repository for curated vulnerability intelligence. Carries a separate identifier (EUVD-YYYY-NNNN) and frequently exposes an earlier-published description + CVSS than NVD does.

EUVD ID
EUVD-2023-26921
Assigner
mitre
Published
Jan 18, 2023, 12:00:00 AM
Updated
Apr 4, 2025, 3:45:24 PM
EUVD base score (CVSS 3.1)
7.8 / 10
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EUVD-reported EPSS
41.6800
Vendors
n/a
Products
n/a (n/a)
Aliases
GHSA-3vwp-294x-6v9c

ENISA description: 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.

EUVD references (14)

Microsoft Security Response Center MSRC

Microsoft's vendor-authoritative record from the Security Update Guide — its own CVSS score, impact, severity rating, exploit assessment, and KB-article fixes. Refreshed 2026-08-12 01:00 UTC (source: CVRF).

MS severity
Important
MS CVSS base score
7.8 / 10 (temporal 7.8)
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Release
2023-Jan
Microsoft remediations / KB articles (2)
Microsoft FAQ (1)

Is Azure Linux the only Microsoft product that includes this open-source library and is therefore potentially affected by this vulnerability?

One of the main benefits to our customers who choose to use the Azure Linux distro is the commitment to keep it up to date with the most recent and most secure versions of the open source libraries with which the distro is composed. Microsoft is committed to transparency in this work which is why we began publishing CSAF/VEX in October 2025. See this blog post for more information. If impact to additional products is identified, we will update the CVE to reflect this.

Affected products (1)
VendorProductVersionsPlatforms
n/a n/a n/a (affected) —

Affected products — CPE 2.3 (8) NVD

NVD's normalized CPE 2.3 matchers, used by vendor tools (vulnerability scanners, asset managers) for automated detection. Compare with the CNA's free-text "Affected products" section above.

  • cpe:2.3:a:sudo_project:sudo:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:sudo_project:sudo:1.9.12:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:sudo_project:sudo:1.9.12:p1:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:36:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:37:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:apple:macos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

Vendor references (14)

References embedded in the original CVE record by the assigning CNA.

MITRE references (13) cveawg.mitre.org

Pulled from MITRE's CVE Services API by the 🛰 Backfill from MITRE button.

Web references (14)

DuckDuckGo results ranked by threat-intel / vendor advisory domains. Generated by the 🔎 Find references (web) button above — same flow as the Remediations search.

NVD-tagged references (28)

Reference list NVD curates from the CNA record, vendor advisories, and third-party reports. The tag chips below are NVD's analyst-assigned categories.

Remediations (11)

  • Rapid7 — Solution
    rapid7

    huawei-euleros-2_0_sp9-upgrade-sudo

    2026-05-28 22:33 UTC
  • Update Software, Mitigation M1051 - Enterprise | MITRE ATT&CK®
    web:attack.mitre.org

    This mitigation can be implemented through the following measures: Regular Operating System Updates Implementation: Apply the latest Windows security updates monthly using WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) or a similar patch management solution. Configure systems to check for updates automatically and schedule reboots during maintenance ...

    2026-05-22 21:49 UTC
  • Microsoft Patch Tuesday, September 2025 Edition - Krebs on Security
    web:krebsonsecurity.com

    Microsoft Corp. today issued security updates to fix more than 80 vulnerabilities in its Windows operating systems and software. There are no known "zero-day" or actively exploited ...

    2026-05-22 21:49 UTC
  • Nvd - Cve-2023-22809
    web:nvd.nist.gov

    An official website of the United States government Here's how you know

    2026-05-22 21:49 UTC
  • Security Update Guide - Microsoft
    web:portal.msrc.microsoft.com

    The Security Update Guide provides information on the latest Microsoft security updates, helping users understand and address potential vulnerabilities effectively.

    2026-05-22 21:49 UTC
  • CVE-2023-22809 - Vulnerability Details - OpenCVE
    web:app.opencve.io

    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 ...

    2026-05-22 21:49 UTC
  • February's Patch Tuesday release fixes 59 flaws ... - Computerworld
    web:www.computerworld.com

    Each month, the team at Readiness analyzes the latest Patch Tuesday updates from Microsoft and provides detailed, actionable testing guidance. The company's Patch Tuesday release for February ...

    2026-05-22 21:49 UTC
  • CVE: Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures
    web:www.cve.org

    At cve .org, we provide the authoritative reference method for publicly known information-security vulnerabilities and exposures

    2026-05-22 21:49 UTC
  • CVE-2023-22809 - OpenLogic
    web:www.openlogic.com

    NVD Listing: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/ CVE - 2023 - 22809

    2026-05-22 21:49 UTC
  • Oracle Critical Patch Update Advisory - April 2026
    web:www.oracle.com

    This Critical Patch Update contains 481 new security patches across the product families listed below. Please note that an MOS note summarizing the content of this Critical Patch Update and other Oracle Software Security Assurance activities is located at April 2026 Critical Patch Update: Executive Summary and Analysis.

    2026-05-22 21:49 UTC
  • Microsoft March 2026 Patch Tuesday fixes 2 zero-days, 79 flaws
    web:www.bleepingcomputer.com

    Today is Microsoft's March 2026 Patch Tuesday with security updates for 79 flaws, including 2 publicly disclosed zero-day vulnerabilities.

    2026-05-22 21:49 UTC

AI Forensic Analysis

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Raw JSON

The full cvelistV5 record. Download as CVE-2023-22809.json.

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