CVE-2019-20044
zsh: insecure dropping of privileges when unsetting PRIVILEGED option
Severity
ImportantRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.1
Review impact separately from score.
Published · February 16, 2020
Updated · November 22, 2025
Description
A flaw was found in zsh. When unsetting the PRIVILEGED option, the shell sets its effective user and group IDs to match their respective real IDs. When the RUID and EUID were both non-zero, it is possible to regain the shell's former privileges. Also, the setopt built-in did not correctly report errors when unsetting the option, which prevented users from handling them as the documentation recommended. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
No mitigation is specified in collected source.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.1 · 7.8CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CWE-271 · Privilege Dropping / Lowering Errors