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CVE Record

CVE-2026-35535: In Sudo through 1.9.17p2 before 3e474c2, a failure of a setuid, setgid, or setgroups call, during a privile...

In Sudo through 1.9.17p2 before 3e474c2, a failure of a setuid, setgid, or setgroups call, during a privilege drop before running the mailer, is not a fatal error and can lead to privilege escalation.

HighCVSS 7.4Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

A flaw in Sudo can leave a mail-handling process with more privilege than intended when an operating-system privilege-drop call fails. Successful abuse could give a local attacker extensive control over an affected system. The CVSS score is 7.4, reflecting high impact but high exploitation complexity.

Executive priority

Treat as a high-priority local privilege-escalation issue, especially on shared or security-sensitive systems. Patch through supported vendor channels after confirming affected packages. It is not presented as an internet-remote flaw, exploitation requires high complexity, and the supplied evidence does not show active exploitation; these factors support urgent, risk-based remediation rather than emergency-wide shutdown.

Technical view

In Sudo through 1.9.17p2, before commit 3e474c2, failures from setuid, setgid, or setgroups during the pre-mailer privilege drop are not fatal. The mailer may consequently execute with unintended privileges, enabling escalation. The issue maps to CWE-271 and CWE-272 and has vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Likely exposure

Potential exposure exists on systems running Sudo through 1.9.17p2 without the referenced fix. Exploitation is local and high-complexity. The bundle's affected-version metadata is inconsistent, listing version “0” with default status unaffected, so administrators should confirm distribution-specific package status through vendor advisories.

Exploitation context

The bundle does not identify this CVE as KEV, and no supplied source evidence establishes active exploitation. Public technical research is referenced, but that alone does not prove attacks in the wild. The CVSS vector indicates local access, no prior privileges, no user interaction, and high attack complexity.

Researcher notes

The security boundary failure is improper handling of unsuccessful privilege relinquishment before invoking the mailer. Researchers should review vendor backports because package version strings may not directly match upstream releases. Exact triggering conditions, reachable mailer configurations, and distribution-specific exposure are not fully established by the supplied bundle, and its affected-product metadata is internally inconsistent.

Mitigation direction

  • Install the distribution-supported Sudo update that incorporates commit 3e474c2 or its backported equivalent.
  • Consult the relevant Linux or product vendor advisory for exact fixed package versions.
  • Prioritize shared, multi-user, administrative, and other systems where local untrusted access is possible.
  • Apply temporary vendor-recommended mitigations if patching cannot occur promptly; none are specified in the bundle.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory installed Sudo package versions across Linux, Unix-like, appliance, and embedded estates.
  • Compare each package release against its distribution or product vendor advisory, including backported fixes.
  • Confirm the deployed source or package contains the behavioral change from commit 3e474c2.
  • After updating, verify package integrity and record the remediated version in vulnerability-management evidence.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
10

Public sources used

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

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-271: Exact CWE lookup

Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-272: Exact CWE lookup

Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
description · low confidence lookup

Privilege behavior lookup

The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2026-35535 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
High
CVSS
7.4 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

2CVSS vectors
5Timeline events
4ADP providers
35Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: noTechnical Impact: total

CVSS vector scores

2 official scores

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
7.4CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.45.9mitre
7.4CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.45.9redhat-SADP

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

7.4High
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2026-35535Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. ADP timelineredhat-SADP

    Made public.

  3. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  4. ADP timelineredhat-SADP

    Reported to Red Hat.

  5. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
other:ssvc
siemens-SADPADP container
CVECVE Program Container
redhat-SADPsudo: Sudo: Privilege escalation due to failure in privilege drop calls
other:Red Hat severity ratingcvssV3_1
  • 2026-04-03T03:01:03.124Z: Reported to Red Hat.
  • 2026-04-03T02:21:33.584Z: Made public.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
Sudo projectSudo0unaffected
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-271CWE-272

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-271 · source CWE mapping

Privilege Dropping / Lowering Errors

Privilege Dropping / Lowering Errors represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.

Open CWE intelligenceSame-CWE CVEs
CWE-272 · source CWE mapping

Least Privilege Violation

Least Privilege Violation represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.

Open CWE intelligenceSame-CWE CVEs