How severe is CVE-2019-19726?

CVE-2019-19726 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.8, rated high severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.

Is CVE-2019-19726 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 4% (88th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2019-19726?

CVE-2019-19726 affects Openbsd. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.

How do I fix CVE-2019-19726?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its high severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.

When was CVE-2019-19726 published?

CVE-2019-19726 was published on 2019-12-12 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2019-19726

CVE-2019-19726 is a high-severity vulnerability in Openbsd with a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.8. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-269.

Key facts

Severity: High (CVSS 3.x base score 7.8)
CVSS v2: 7.2
EPSS exploit prediction: 4% (88th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-269
Affected product: Openbsd
Published: 2019-12-12
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

OpenBSD through 6.6 allows local users to escalate to root because a check for LD_LIBRARY_PATH in setuid programs can be defeated by setting a very small RLIMIT_DATA resource limit. When executing chpass or passwd (which are setuid root), _dl_setup_env in ld.so tries to strip LD_LIBRARY_PATH from the environment, but fails when it cannot allocate memory. Thus, the attacker is able to execute their own library code as root.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-19726?: OpenBSD through 6.6 allows local users to escalate to root because a check for LD_LIBRARY_PATH in setuid programs can be defeated by setting a very small RLIMIT_DATA resource limit. When executing chpass or passwd (which are setuid root), _dl_setup_env in ld.so tries to strip LD_LIBRARY_PATH from the environment, but fails when it cannot allocate memory. Thus, the attacker is able to execute their own library code as root.
How severe is CVE-2019-19726?: CVE-2019-19726 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.8, rated high severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.
Is CVE-2019-19726 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 4% (88th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2019-19726?: CVE-2019-19726 affects Openbsd. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2019-19726?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its high severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
When was CVE-2019-19726 published?: CVE-2019-19726 was published on 2019-12-12 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (1)

cpe:2.3:o:openbsd:openbsd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Openbsd

CVE-2007-1365 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Buffer overflow in kern/uipc_mbuf2.c in OpenBSD 3.9 and 4.0 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via…
CVE-2006-4304 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Buffer overflow in the sppp driver in FreeBSD 4.11 through 6.1, NetBSD 2.0 through 4.0 beta before 20060823, and…
CVE-2004-0492 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Heap-based buffer overflow in proxy_util.c for mod_proxy in Apache 1.3.25 to 1.3.31 allows remote attackers to cause a…
CVE-2004-0414 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): CVS 1.12.x through 1.12.8, and 1.11.x through 1.11.16, does not properly handle malformed "Entry" lines, which prevents…
CVE-2004-0416 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Double free vulnerability for the error_prog_name string in CVS 1.12.x through 1.12.8, and 1.11.x through 1.11.16, may…
CVE-2004-0418 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): serve_notify in CVS 1.12.x through 1.12.8, and 1.11.x through 1.11.16, does not properly handle empty data lines, which…

All CVEs affecting Openbsd →

Other CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management) vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-31852 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Jellyfin is an open-source media system. The code-quality.yml GitHub Actions workflow in jellyfin/jellyfin-ios is…
CVE-2025-20282 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): A vulnerability in an internal API of Cisco ISE and Cisco ISE-PIC could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to…
CVE-2025-0505 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): On Arista CloudVision systems (virtual or physical on-premise deployments), Zero Touch Provisioning can be used to gain…
CVE-2023-48418 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): In checkDebuggingDisallowed of DeviceVersionFragment.java, there is a possible way to access adb before SUW…
CVE-2023-48419 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): An attacker in the wifi vicinity of a target Google Home can spy on the victim, resulting in Elevation of Privilege
CVE-2023-31273 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Protection mechanism failure in some Intel DCM software before version 5.2 may allow an unauthenticated user to…

Browse all CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management) vulnerabilities →