kill: 'kill -1' parsed as PID -1, sending SIGTERM to all processes (system crash / DoS)
Exact source revision recorded 24 Oct 2026 13:19:54 UTC. It does not establish the source's current position. Latest evidence.
osv · GHSA-p6rv-2qpm-fwvg
Published`kill -1` is incorrectly parsed as a positional `pid = -1`; combined with the default SIGTERM this calls `kill(-1, SIGTERM)`, signaling nearly every process the caller can see. GNU `kill` recognizes `-1`/`-9` as signals and reports "not enough arguments". ``` $ kill -1 # uutils: kill(-1, SIGTERM) -> mass termination / crash $ kill -1 # GNU: kill: not enough arguments ``` **Impact:** a user running `kill -1` mass-terminates processes, potentially crashing the system. Recommendation: parse `-N` as a signal number, and error with "not enough arguments" when no PID is given. **Remediation:** Acknowledged by Canonical; fixed in commit cae94028. --- _Reported by Zellic in the *uutils coreutils Program Security Assessment* (prepared for Canonical, Jan 20 2026), audited commit `3a07ffc5a9bd4c283e75afa548ba1f1957bad242`. Finding 3.70. Credit: Zellic._
- Source published
- 6 Jul 2026 19:55:15 UTC
- Source modified
- 6 Jul 2026 20:11:15 UTC
- Observed here
- 24 Oct 2026 13:19:54 UTC
- Source terms
- GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0
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This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: osv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.
CVSS_V3 · CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Publisher rating · MODERATE