CVE-2023-22809
HIGHEPSS 99th pctlDescription
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.
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Very high risk: more likely to be exploited than 99% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2017-12635 | Critical | 9.8 | 100% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2022-24637 | Critical | 9.8 | 99% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-5689 | Critical | 9.8 | 92% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2020-3243 | Critical | 9.8 | 88% | - | - |
| CVE-2024-21888 | High | 8.8 | 87% | - | - |
| CVE-2022-0441 | Critical | 9.8 | 85% | - | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2023-22809?
Published advisories record a fix for 9 affected products. The "How to fix" section on this page lists the fixed version and source advisory for each one, so apply the entry matching what you actually run.
Is CVE-2023-22809 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2023-22809 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 55.4% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 99% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2023-22809?
CVE-2023-22809 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8, rated high. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2023-22809 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for sudo (Debian), sudo (Rocky), sudo (Red Hat / RHEL), sudo-debuginfo (Rocky), and 5 more. Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2025-04-04.