Vulnerability · Published Sep 14, 2026 · Assigned by fedora
CVE-2026-19816PackageKit: dnf5 backend ignores SIMULATE on RepoRemove
High 7.1
In plain English
A high-severity incorrect authorization in PackageKit. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.1% (higher than 4% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
A flaw was found in PackageKit. PackageKit skips the polkit authorization check for transactions carrying the SIMULATE (dry-run) flag. In the dnf5 backend, the RepoRemove handler ignores that contract and always executes the real transaction because its guard is written as (role == REPO_REMOVE || !SIMULATE), which is always true for RepoRemove. An unprivileged local user can therefore perform a genuine package uninstall while claiming to simulate. This vulnerability only affects systems using PackageKit with the dnf5 backend.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:12 | packagekit | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-19816 |
| Debian:13 | packagekit | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-19816 |
| Debian:14 | packagekit | 1.4.0-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-19816 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | packagekit | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-19816 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | packagekit | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-19816 |
| Ubuntu:26.04:LTS | packagekit | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-19816 |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| PackageKit | 1.3.4 – before 1.4.0 | |
| Fedora | Fedora | 1.3.4 – before 1.4.0 |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | see references |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | see references |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | see references |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | see references |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | see references |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | see references |
Weakness: CWE-863 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H