CVE Intelligence
Medium Memory corruption exploit reference

CVE-2019-5188 — A code execution vulnerability exists in the directory rehashing functionality of E2fsprogs...

A code execution vulnerability exists in the directory rehashing functionality of E2fsprogs e2fsck 1.45.4. A specially crafted ext4 directory can cause an out-of-bounds write on the stack, resulting in code execution. An attacker can corrupt a partition to trigger this vulnerability.

Published Jan 8, 2020 · Updated Oct 14, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP, GitHub Security Advisories · CNA: talos

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 1.1% (30-day exploitation probability)+10
  • Technical severity (medium)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
1.08%
ahead of 64% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026
Affects
Canonical
Ubuntu Linux and 6 more
CVSS base
6.7
Medium · 4 source(s)
Prioritization reference: 7.5 provisional

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
None
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, E2fsprogs Project E2fsprogs…).
  2. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
  3. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (memory corruption), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Canonical Ubuntu Linux version 12.04version 14.04version 16.04version 18.04version 19.04version 19.10 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Debian Debian Linux version 8.0version 9.0 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
E2fsprogs Project E2fsprogs ≥ 1.43.3 and ≤ 1.45.4 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Fedoraproject Fedora version 30version 31 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Netapp Hci Compute Node Firmware versions not specified by the source Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Netapp Solidfire, Enterprise Sds & Hci Storage Node versions not specified by the source Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Opensuse Leap version 15.1 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
7.5 CVSS 3.1 High 0.8 6.0 talos-cna@cisco.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
7.5 CVSS 3.1 High — — talos via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
6.7 CVSS 3.1 Medium 0.8 5.9 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
6.7 CVSS 3.1 Medium — — GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories
4.4 CVSS 2.0 Medium 3.4 6.4 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)
Scoring entities (NIST, CNA, ADP) score independently; each score is shown with its origin. For prioritization we use 7.5 (talos-cna@cisco.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database) as a conservative provisional reference — not a definitive official score.

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-787 · Out-of-bounds Write

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 1.08%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
  • Correlate service crashes/restarts with inbound traffic; repeated crashes may indicate attempts.
endpoint telemetry (EDR)crash dumps

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 14, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 14, 2026
  • Affected products added · e2fsprogs project/e2fsprogs, fedoraproject/fedora, debian/debian linux, canonical/ubuntu linux, opensuse/leap, netapp/hc
    Oct 14, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 6.7
    Oct 14, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Modified
    Oct 14, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 14, 2026 · Alertas do Telegram
  • 2020
  • CVE published
    Jan 8, 2020 · talos

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 2× References added · Oct 14, 2026 – Oct 14, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 14, 2026 – Oct 14, 2026

References

13 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Canonical
every CVE for this vendor
Memory corruption
same class
CWE-787
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-12996 A use-after-free in OpenVPN 2.6.0 through 2.6.20 and 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7.4 allows remote... Jul 30, 2026
  • CVE-2026-14355 ext/openssl: Memory corruption in openssl_encrypt with AES-WRAP-PAD Jul 3, 2026
  • CVE-2026-56968 Use of Uninitialized Resource in Gnu Sasl Jun 23, 2026
  • CVE-2026-54231 Abrt: unsanitized systemd journal content written to dump directory files enables content injection Jun 13, 2026
  • CVE-2026-54230 Abrt: event handler scripts follow symlinks when writing output files, allowing arbitrary file overwrites Jun 13, 2026
  • CVE-2026-49975 Apache HTTP Server: mod_http2 denial of service Jun 8, 2026

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2019-5188 is "A code execution vulnerability exists in the directory rehashing functionality of E2fsprogs...", rated Medium. It affects Ubuntu Linux (Canonical); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 6.7 describes technical severity. EPSS 1.08% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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