How severe is CVE-2019-6133?

CVE-2019-6133 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.7, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with high attack complexity, requires low privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.

Is CVE-2019-6133 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (36th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2019-6133?

CVE-2019-6133 primarily affects Polkit Project Polkit. In total, 17 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2019-6133?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

When was CVE-2019-6133 published?

CVE-2019-6133 was published on 2019-01-11 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2019-6133

CVE-2019-6133 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Polkit Project Polkit with a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.7. 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-362.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 6.7)
CVSS v2: 4.4
EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (36th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-362
Affected product: Polkit Project Polkit
Published: 2019-01-11
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

In PolicyKit (aka polkit) 0.115, the "start time" protection mechanism can be bypassed because fork() is not atomic, and therefore authorization decisions are improperly cached. This is related to lack of uid checking in polkitbackend/polkitbackendinteractiveauthority.c.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-6133?: In PolicyKit (aka polkit) 0.115, the "start time" protection mechanism can be bypassed because fork() is not atomic, and therefore authorization decisions are improperly cached. This is related to lack of uid checking in polkitbackend/polkitbackendinteractiveauthority.c.
How severe is CVE-2019-6133?: CVE-2019-6133 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.7, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with high attack complexity, requires low privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.
Is CVE-2019-6133 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (36th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2019-6133?: CVE-2019-6133 primarily affects Polkit Project Polkit. In total, 17 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2019-6133?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2019-6133 published?: CVE-2019-6133 was published on 2019-01-11 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (17)

cpe:2.3:a:polkit_project:polkit:0.115:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:6.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Polkit Project Polkit

CVE-2018-19788 — High (CVSS 8.8): A flaw was found in PolicyKit (aka polkit) 0.115 that allows a user with a uid greater than INT_MAX to successfully…
CVE-2021-3560 — High (CVSS 7.8): It was found that polkit could be tricked into bypassing the credential checks for D-Bus requests, elevating the…
CVE-2021-4034 — High (CVSS 7.8): A local privilege escalation vulnerability was found on polkit's pkexec utility. The pkexec application is a setuid…
CVE-2013-4288 — High (CVSS 7.2): Race condition in PolicyKit (aka polkit) allows local users to bypass intended PolicyKit restrictions and gain…
CVE-2021-4115 — Medium (CVSS 5.5): There is a flaw in polkit which can allow an unprivileged user to cause polkit to crash, due to process file descriptor…
CVE-2015-4625 — Medium (CVSS 4.6): Integer overflow in the authentication_agent_new_cookie function in PolicyKit (aka polkit) before 0.113 allows local…

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Other CWE-362 (Race Condition) vulnerabilities

CVE-2022-27626 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): A vulnerability regarding concurrent execution using shared resource with improper synchronization ('Race Condition')…
CVE-2015-8556 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Local privilege escalation vulnerability in the Gentoo QEMU package before 2.5.0-r1.
CVE-2014-0703 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) devices 7.4 before 7.4.110.0 distribute Aironet IOS software with a race condition…
CVE-2010-1228 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Multiple race conditions in the sandbox infrastructure in Google Chrome before 4.1.249.1036 have unspecified impact and…
CVE-2008-6598 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Multiple race conditions in WANPIPE before 3.3.6 have unknown impact and attack vectors related to "bri restart logic."
CVE-2026-46137 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mptcp: pm: ADD_ADDR rtx: fix potential…

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