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Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A08:2025 - Software or Data Integrity Failures
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Trusted source inclusion only
Impact

CVSS 9.3 (Critical). KEV-listed — actively exploited. EPSS 26.5%. Public PoC available. Requires sudo --chroot permission (common in container/chroot environments). Trivially exploitable once conditions are met. Root access on host system. Sudo is installed on virtually every Unix/Linux system.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A user with sudo --chroot permission creates a directory structure containing: a malicious /etc/nsswitch.conf pointing to a custom NSS module, and a shared library (.so) file implementing that module with arbitrary code. When the user runs 'sudo --chroot /path/to/malicious/chroot <command>', sudo changes root to the attacker's directory and loads the malicious NSS configuration and library as root, executing the attacker's code with full root privileges.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: In CISA KEV with patch available.
Exploited in the wild (CISA KEV) Patch available 26.5% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Mar 16, 2026

Sudo before 1.9.17p1 contains a local root escalation vulnerability (CVE-2025-32463, CVSS 9.3) through the --chroot option, which loads /etc/nsswitch.conf from the user-controlled chroot directory instead of the host system. KEV-listed with EPSS 26.5% and public PoC, this vulnerability allows any user with sudo --chroot access to achieve root privileges by placing a malicious nsswitch configuration and library in their chroot.

Earlier versions of this analysis (1)
v1 Mar 16, 2026 - 01:25 CVSS 9.3

Sudo's --chroot option (CWE-829) loads the nsswitch.conf configuration from the chroot directory controlled by the invoking user rather than the host filesystem, enabling arbitrary library loading and code execution as root.

RemediationAI

Upgrade sudo to 1.9.17p1 or later. If unable to upgrade, remove --chroot permission from sudoers entries. Audit sudoers configuration for --chroot usage. Check for exploitation indicators in sudo logs.

Affected VersionsENISA

sudo 1.9.14 <1.9.17p1

Affected Packages

euvd sudo fix: 1.9.17p1

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

When sudo processes a command with --chroot, it changes the filesystem root before resolving NSS (Name Service Switch) modules. Because /etc/nsswitch.conf and the NSS libraries are loaded from the user-controlled chroot directory, an attacker can place a malicious nsswitch.conf that points to a crafted shared library. Sudo (running as root) loads this library, executing attacker-controlled code with root privileges. The vulnerability requires the user to have sudoers permission to use --chroot, but in environments where this is permitted, it's trivially exploitable.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 9.3 CRITICAL
AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Ubuntu HIGH
SUSE CRITICAL
Red Hat 7.8 HIGH

Primary rating from NVD.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

4
Patch released
Mar 31, 2026 - 21:13 nvd
Patch available
Added to CISA KEV
Nov 05, 2025 - 19:26 cisa
CISA KEV
PoC Detected
Nov 05, 2025 - 19:26 vuln.today
Public exploit code
CVE Published
Jun 30, 2025 - 21:15 nvd
CRITICAL 9.3

DescriptionCVE.org

Sudo before 1.9.17p1 allows local users to obtain root access because /etc/nsswitch.conf from a user-controlled directory is used with the --chroot option.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

Organizations using Sudo before 1.9.17p1 face critical risk from CVE-2025-32463 rated CVSS 9.3. Successful exploitation could critically impact the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of affected systems. This vulnerability is actively exploited in the wild (KEV-listed) and requires immediate remediation. Immediate patching is required per CISA KEV mandate.

Business Impact: Severe
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch. If immediate patching is not feasible: (1) Implement network-level access controls to limit exposure; (2) Enable enhanced monitoring and alerting; (3) Apply principle of least privilege.

Threat Intelligence Overview

Threat Score
5.7/10
Composite threat intelligence
EPSS Score
26.5%
Top 4% exploitable
Exploit
POC
Public exploit code exists
Data Quality
8 sources
Confidence: High

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity CRITICAL
CISA KEV Yes
Public POC Yes
EPSS 26.5%
Patch available Yes
Active threat Yes
Deciding rule
In CISA KEV with patch available
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Out-of-Cycle
Exploitation· derived
Active
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact
Very High

Priority Score

158
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: +50
EPSS: +27
CVSS: +46
PoC: +20
Weaponized: +15
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

More in Sudo

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CVE-2012-0809 HIGH POC
7.2 Feb 01

Format string vulnerability in the sudo_debug function in Sudo 1.8.0 through 1.8.3p1 allows local users to execute arbit

CVE-2025-32462 HIGH POC
8.8 Jun 30

Incorrect host matching in Sudo before 1.9.17p1 allows local attackers to execute commands on unintended machines when t

CVE-2013-1775 MEDIUM POC
6.9 Mar 05

sudo 1.6.0 through 1.7.10p6 and sudo 1.8.0 through 1.8.6p6 allows local users or physically proximate attackers to bypas

CVE-2023-22809 HIGH POC
7.8 Jan 18

In Sudo before 1.9.12p2, the sudoedit (aka -e) feature mishandles extra arguments passed in the user-provided environmen

CVE-2021-3156 HIGH POC
7.8 Jan 26

Sudo before 1.9.5p2 contains an off-by-one error that can result in a heap-based buffer overflow, which allows privilege

CVE-2017-1000367 MEDIUM POC
6.4 Jun 05

Todd Miller's sudo version 1.8.20 and earlier is vulnerable to an input validation (embedded spaces) in the get_process_

CVE-2026-35535 HIGH POC
7.8 Apr 03

Local privilege escalation in Sudo through 1.9.17p2 (fixed in commit 3e474c2) arises because a failed setuid, setgid, or

CVE-2019-14287 HIGH POC
8.8 Oct 17

In Sudo before 1.8.28, an attacker with access to a Runas ALL sudoer account can bypass certain policy blacklists and se

CVE-2015-5602 HIGH POC
7.2 Nov 17

sudoedit in Sudo before 1.8.15 allows local users to gain privileges via a symlink attack on a file whose full path is d

CVE-2021-23240 HIGH POC
7.8 Jan 12

selinux_edit_copy_tfiles in sudoedit in Sudo before 1.9.5 allows a local unprivileged user to gain file ownership and es

CVE-2023-27320 HIGH POC
7.2 Feb 28

Sudo before 1.9.13p2 has a double free in the per-command chroot feature. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerabi

CVE-2023-42465 HIGH POC
7.0 Dec 22

Sudo before 1.9.15 might allow row hammer attacks (for authentication bypass or privilege escalation) because applicatio

Vendor StatusVendor

Ubuntu

Priority: High
sudo
Release Status Version
trusty not-affected code not present
xenial not-affected code not present
bionic not-affected code not present
focal not-affected code not present
jammy not-affected code not present
noble released 1.9.15p5-3ubuntu5.24.04.1
oracular released 1.9.15p5-3ubuntu5.24.10.1
plucky released 1.9.16p2-1ubuntu1.1
upstream pending 1.9.17p1,1.9.16p2-3

Debian

sudo
Release Status Fixed Version Urgency
bullseye not-affected - -
bullseye (security) fixed 1.9.5p2-3+deb11u3 -
bookworm not-affected - -
bookworm (security) fixed 1.9.13p3-1+deb12u2 -
trixie fixed 1.9.16p2-3+deb13u1 -
forky, sid fixed 1.9.17p2-4 -
(unstable) fixed 1.9.16p2-3 -

SUSE

Severity: Critical
Product Status
Container bci/spack:0.23.1-11.8 Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/server:5.0.5.7.30.1 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/proxy-salt-broker:5.1.2.9.13.2 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/server:5.1.0.6.40 Image SLES15-SP6 Image SLES15-SP6-Azure-3P Image SLES15-SP6-Azure-Basic Image SLES15-SP6-Azure-Standard Image SLES15-SP6-BYOS Image SLES15-SP6-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-Aliyun Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-GDC Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-SAP-CCloud Image SLES15-SP6-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-EC2-ECS-HVM Image SLES15-SP6-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-HPC Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-BYOS Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-Hardened-BYOS Image SLES15-SP6-Hardened-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-Hardened-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-Hardened-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-SAP Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-Azure-3P Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-Azure-LI-BYOS Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-Azure-LI-BYOS-Production Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-Azure-VLI-BYOS Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-Azure-VLI-BYOS-Production Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-BYOS Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-Hardened Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-Hardened-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-Hardened-BYOS Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-Hardened-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-Hardened-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-Hardened-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-Hardened-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-Hardened-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-SAPCAL Image SLES15-SP6-SAPCAL-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-SAPCAL-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-SAPCAL-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-Azure-3P Image SLES15-SP7-Azure-Basic Image SLES15-SP7-Azure-Standard Image SLES15-SP7-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-Aliyun Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-GDC Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-SAP-CCloud Image SLES15-SP7-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-EC2-ECS-HVM Image SLES15-SP7-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-GCE-3P Image SLES15-SP7-HPC-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-HPC-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-HPC-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-HPC-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-Hardened-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-Hardened-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-Hardened-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Azure-3P Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Azure-LI-BYOS-Production Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Azure-VLI-BYOS-Production Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-GCE-3P Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Hardened-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Hardened-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Hardened-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Hardened-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Hardened-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-SAPCAL-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-SAPCAL-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-SAPCAL-GCE Image proxy-salt-broker-image Image server-image Affected
Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/baremetal-os-container:2.1.3-6.53 Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/toolbox:13.2-9.12 Container suse/sl-micro/6.1/baremetal-os-container:2.2.1-7.2 Image SL-Micro Image SL-Micro-Azure Image SL-Micro-BYOS-Azure Image SL-Micro-BYOS-EC2 Image SL-Micro-BYOS-GCE Image SL-Micro-Base Image SL-Micro-Base-RT Image SL-Micro-Base-RT-SelfInstall Image SL-Micro-Base-RT-encrypted Image SL-Micro-Base-SelfInstall Image SL-Micro-Base-encrypted Image SL-Micro-Base-qcow Image SL-Micro-Default Image SL-Micro-Default-SelfInstall Image SL-Micro-Default-encrypted Image SL-Micro-Default-qcow Image SL-Micro-EC2 Image SLE-Micro Image SLE-Micro-Azure Image SLE-Micro-BYOS Image SLE-Micro-BYOS-Azure Image SLE-Micro-BYOS-EC2 Image SLE-Micro-BYOS-GCE Image SLE-Micro-EC2 Image SLE-Micro-GCE Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Proxy-BYOS-Azure Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Proxy-BYOS-EC2 Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Proxy-BYOS-GCE Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-Azure-llc Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-Azure-ltd Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-BYOS-Azure Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-BYOS-EC2 Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-BYOS-GCE Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-EC2-llc Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-EC2-ltd Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP6 SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP6 SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 Fixed
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP7 SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 Fixed
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 Fixed

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