CVE-2005-4158: Sudo before 1.6.8 p12, when the Perl taint flag is off, does not clear the (1) PERLLIB, (2) PERL5LIB, and (...

Security readout for executives and security teams

This is an old sudo flaw where certain Perl environment variables were not cleared. If a local user could run an affected Perl script through sudo, they might make that script load attacker-controlled Perl library files. Business risk is mainly on legacy Unix/Linux systems with old sudo packages and permissive sudo rules. Exposure is most likely on obsolete systems still running sudo before 1.6.8 p12, especially where sudoers allows local users to execute Perl scripts and those scripts run without Perl taint mode. The bundle does not identify modern affected products or complete package ranges. Prioritize legacy server review rather than emergency response. This can matter where old sudo versions remain on systems with local shell users, shared hosting, jump boxes, or administrative scripts. Modern patched fleets are unlikely to need more than confirmation. Mitigation focus: Upgrade sudo to 1.6.8 p12 or a vendor-fixed package.; Review vendor advisories for distribution-specific corrected versions.; Restrict sudoers entries that allow users to run privileged Perl scripts..

Prepared

Jun 29, 2026, 16:03 UTC (UTC+00:00)

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.