Cyber Resilience

CVE-2019-8720

Memory Safety in Redhat Enterprise Linux Eus 8.4 … 8.6

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedMemory Safety
Published
06 March 2023
Modified
18 November 2025
KEV Added
23 May 2022
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.015 73th percentile
Risk Priority 90 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2019-8720 is a high-severity Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer (CWE-119) vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux Eus. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Process Injection (T1055); ranked in the top 27% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

A vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-8720 exists in WebKit and stems from multiple memory corruption issues classified under CWE-119. The flaw is triggered during the processing of maliciously crafted web content, and the provided description indicates that improved memory handling was implemented to resolve it. Affected software includes WebKitGTK as referenced in the associated security advisories.

An attacker can exploit the issue by serving malicious web content to a victim, requiring no special privileges but relying on user interaction such as visiting a crafted page. Successful exploitation may result in arbitrary code execution, with the CVSS 8.8 score reflecting high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability over a network vector.

WebKitGTK security advisory WSA-2019-0005 and related Red Hat bug reports describe the resolution through updated memory handling in patched versions. The vulnerability appears in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, confirming observed real-world exploitation activity that warrants prioritized patching for affected WebKit-based components.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerability was found in WebKit. The flaw is triggered when processing maliciously crafted web content that may lead to arbitrary code execution. Improved memory handling addresses the multiple memory corruption issues.

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
23 May 2022

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1055 Process Injection Stealth
Adversaries may inject code into processes in order to evade process-based defenses as well as possibly elevate privileges.
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-31277Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2013-1690Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktopboth on KEV
CVE-2012-2034Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktopboth on KEV
CVE-2017-1000253Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2016-7193Shared CWE-119both on KEV
CVE-2025-7775Shared CWE-119both on KEV
CVE-2021-31979Shared CWE-119both on KEV
CVE-2026-20700Shared CWE-119both on KEV
CVE-2017-11826Shared CWE-119both on KEV
CVE-2018-0151Shared CWE-119both on KEV

Affected Assets

webkitgtk
webkitgtk
≤ 2.26.0
wpewebkit
wpe webkit
≤ 2.26.0
redhat
codeready linux builder
8.0
redhat
codeready linux builder eus
8.4, 8.6
redhat
codeready linux builder for arm64 eus
8.0, 8.4, 8.6
redhat
codeready linux builder for ibm z systems eus
8.0, 8.4, 8.6
redhat
codeready linux builder for power little endian eus
8.0, 8.4, 8.6
redhat
enterprise linux
8.0
redhat
enterprise linux desktop
7.0
redhat
enterprise linux eus
8.4, 8.6
+13 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V17.3.2

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-119

Ongoing control assessments and code testing (static/dynamic analysis, fuzzing) surface memory buffer restriction failures, which are then remediated before release.

addresses: CWE-119

Managed runtimes used by platform-independent applications (e.g., JVM, CLR) enforce memory safety, preventing most buffer overflows that require direct memory manipulation.

addresses: CWE-119

Memory protections (e.g., W^X, ASLR) make exploitation of buffer-boundary violations far harder to turn into code execution.

addresses: CWE-119

Detects exploitation attempts that produce memory corruption, crashes, or anomalous behavior.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices (bounds checking, safe APIs, reviews) directly prevent this class of flaw.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and code analysis directly surface buffer-boundary flaws.

ID.RA-08 partial match
prevents

Receiving and triaging vulnerability disclosures commonly includes buffer-related reports.

PR.AT-02 partial match
prevents

Developer training on secure coding reduces introduction of memory-buffer errors.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching replaces vulnerable code containing buffer-boundary defects.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development catches out-of-bounds accesses before release, covering most instances of the weakness.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates memory-safety practices that directly prevent buffer-boundary violations.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-safety rules, but do not prescribe implementation details.

prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles include memory-safe design patterns that mitigate buffer overflows.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer operations, directly eliminating CWE-119.

References