Log in Start free

Vulnerability · Published Sep 18, 2026 · Assigned by redhat

CVE-2026-91205Cockpit-files: cockpit-files: local attacker can hijack file ownership via symlink race

Medium 6.0

In plain English

A medium-severity security flaw in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 from Red Hat. 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 1% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)6.0Medium
Exploit odds (30 days)0.1%top 98.6% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

A flaw was found in cockpit-files. A local unprivileged attacker can exploit a race condition during directory creation with owner assignment. By controlling a writable parent directory, the attacker can replace a newly created directory with a symbolic link (symlink) before the ownership change operation (chown) is applied. This allows the attacker to redirect the ownership change to an arbitrary file, potentially leading to information disclosure or unauthorized modification of sensitive files.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
AlmaLinux:10cockpit-files36.1-1.el10_2ALSA-2026:95570
AlmaLinux:9cockpit-files36.1-1.el9_8ALSA-2026:84595
Debian:14cockpit-files45-1DEBIAN-CVE-2026-91205
Rocky Linux:10cockpit-files0:36.1-1.el10_2RLSA-2026:95570
Rocky Linux:9cockpit-files0:36.1-1.el9_8RLSA-2026:84595
Ubuntu:26.04:LTScockpit-filesno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-91205
Ubuntu:26.10cockpit-filesno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-91205

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 see references
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 see references

Weakness: CWE-363 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

References