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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2019-5188: E2fsprogs · Out-of-bounds Write

Affects E2fsprogsSource CVE Database V5

0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
7.5High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
1.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 64% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 8 Jan 2020

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq Mirage: no evidence on record.

    No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

What to do

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
Red Hate2fsprogspkg:rpm/e2fsprogsOther threatsAffected
  • >=1.43.3 <=1.45.4
Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2019-5188, European organizations should: 1) Upgrade E2fsprogs to a version later than 1.45.4 where the vulnerability is patched; if unavailable, consider applying vendor-provided patches or backported fixes. 2) Restrict access to e2fsck and related filesystem utilities to trusted administrators only, minimizing the number of users with high privileges who can invoke these tools. 3) Implement strict controls on the introduction of external or untrusted ext4 filesystem images or directories, including scanning and validation before mounting or checking. 4) Employ filesystem integrity monitoring to detect unexpected changes or corruption early. 5) Use mandatory access controls (e.g., SELinux, AppArmor) to limit the capabilities of e2fsck and related processes, reducing the impact of potential exploitation. 6) Regularly audit and monitor privileged user activities to detect suspicious behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. 7) Maintain up-to-date backups of critical data and filesystem metadata to enable recovery in case of corruption.

Description

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.

References

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