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Advisory severityHigh7.5Red Hat Linux

High [CVE-2026-16445] Root code execution via DHCP options command injection in NetworkManager initrd module

This high-severity Red Hat Linux advisory covers CVE-2026-16445 affecting Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support.

Aggregated and source-linked by VulniPulse. Data sources, validation and limitations.

CVE-2026-16445 Source published Source updated

VulniPulse record published Record updated

CVE-2026-16445
Affected products & platforms
Red Hat LinuxRed Hat Enterprise Linux
Open source advisory

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Summary

A flaw was found in dracut. A remote attacker on the adjacent network can exploit this vulnerability by providing specially crafted DHCP options, such as a malicious root-path, next-server, or bootfile name, to a system using dracut's NetworkManager-based initrd network module.

These options are improperly handled and written into a temporary shell script without proper escaping, leading to command injection. This allows the attacker to achieve root code execution within the initramfs during system boot.

This affects systems configured to boot using dracut's network-manager module with a DHCP-derived netroot (for example, NFS-root configurations). Red Hat severity: Important — CVSS 7.5 (CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Weakness: CWE-78.

Affected Red Hat products: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update Service; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Update Services for SAP Solutions; Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12; Red Hat Hardened Images.

Affected products named by the advisory: Red Hat package: dracut.

Affected versions

No affected-version range was extracted from the source record. The vendor advisory is authoritative. Check it before change work.

Official advisory · high-confidence parse· fetched 8 days ago·verify at source

Fixed versions
  • dracut-0:049-244.git20260529.el8_10
  • dracut-0:049-138.git20220131.el8_4.1
  • dracut-0:049-203.git20220511.el8_6.1
  • dracut-0:049-223.git20230119.el8_8.1
  • rhcos-412.86.202610250235-0
  • dracut-main-109-7.hum1
  • RHSA-2026:26534
  • RHSA-2026:69118
  • RHSA-2026:69119
  • RHSA-2026:61252
  • RHSA-2026:90272
  • RHSA-2026:40700

Official advisory · high-confidence parse· fetched 8 days ago·verify at source

Mitigation checklist

Recommended fix / mitigation
  • Avoid using the root=dhcp/netroot=dhcp/root=dhcp6/netroot=dhcp6 kernel command-line options — these cause dracut to trust the DHCP server's root-path option to determine the boot target. Configuring the netroot target explicitly on the kernel/PXE command line instead (e.g. netroot=nfs:<server>:<path> or netroot=iscsi:... with a literal value).

Official advisory · high-confidence parse· fetched 8 days ago·verify at source

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