CVE-2019-17080

HIGH

mintinstall 7.9.9 - Remote Code Execution via Untrusted REVIEWS_CACHE Deserialization

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 3 public exploits for CVE-2019-17080. PoCs published by İbrahim Hakan Şeker, Andhrimnirr, materaj2.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This exploit leverages an object injection vulnerability in mintinstall (Software Manager) by writing a malicious payload to a cache file, which executes arbitrary commands when mintinstall is launched. The payload initiates a reverse shell via netcat.

Description

mintinstall (aka Software Manager) 7.9.9 for Linux Mint allows code execution if a REVIEWS_CACHE file is controlled by an attacker, because an unpickle occurs. This is resolved in 8.0.0 and backports.

Exploits (3)

exploitdb WORKING POC
by İbrahim Hakan Şeker · pythonwebappslinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/47457

This exploit leverages an object injection vulnerability in mintinstall (Software Manager) by writing a malicious payload to a cache file, which executes arbitrary commands when mintinstall is launched. The payload initiates a reverse shell via netcat.

Classification
Working Poc 90%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: mintinstall (Software Manager) 7.9.9
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Access to the target system to write to the cache file · mintinstall must be executed by the victim
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 1 stars
by Andhrimnirr · poc
https://github.com/Andhrimnirr/Mintinstall-object-injection

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2019-17080, leveraging insecure deserialization in Linux Mint's software manager (mintinstall) via a malicious pickle payload. The exploit writes a crafted payload to the reviews.cache file, which executes arbitrary code when mintinstall deserializes it.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Linux Mint Software Manager (mintinstall) v7.9.5/9
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Write access to ~/.cache/mintinstall/reviews.cache · Victim must run mintinstall
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC
by materaj2 · poc
https://github.com/materaj2/Mintinstall-object-injection

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2019-17080, leveraging insecure deserialization in Linux Mint's software manager (mintinstall) via a malicious pickle payload. The exploit writes a reverse shell payload to the reviews.cache file, which is then executed when the software manager deserializes the file.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Linux Mint Software Manager (mintinstall) v7.9.5/9
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Write access to ~/.cache/mintinstall/reviews.cache · Victim must run mintinstall after payload is written
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →

References (4)

Core 4
Core References
Exploit, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://github.com/Andhrimnirr/Mintinstall-object-injection
Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry x_refsource_misc
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154722/mintinstall-7.9.9-Code-Execution.html
Exploit, Vendor Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=143&t=302960

Scores

CVSS v3 7.8
EPSS 0.0820
EPSS Percentile 94.1%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Details

CWE
CWE-502
Status published
Products (1)
linuxmint/mintinstall 7.9.9
Published Oct 02, 2019
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026