High [CVE-2026-61897] Local privilege escalation via incomplete privilege drop in language helper scripts
This high-severity Red Hat Linux advisory covers CVE-2026-61897.
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Summary
An Ubuntu-specific patch to AccountsService before 23.13.9-8ubuntu7 only partially drops privileges before launching language helper scripts. It changes the effective UID/GID to the target user but leaves the real UID as 0 (root).
A shell spawned by a helper script inherits ruid=0 and may reset its effective UID to root, enabling local privilege escalation. A flaw was found in AccountsService.
This oversight allows a local user to exploit the incomplete privilege drop, potentially enabling them to reset their effective user ID to root. This could lead to local privilege escalation, granting unauthorized administrative access to the system.
Red Hat products do not include this specific patch, therefore they are not directly affected by this flaw. Red Hat severity: Important — CVSS 7.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
Weakness: CWE-273. Red Hat lists Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 as not affected.
- < 23.13.9-8ubuntu7
- 23.13.9
Official advisory · high-confidence parse· fetched 12 days ago·verify at source
Fixed versions
No fixed release is recorded yet. That does not prove no patch exists — confirm against the vendor advisory.
Official advisory · high-confidence parse· fetched 12 days ago·verify at source
Mitigation
The source record does not include mitigation steps. That is not a statement that no fix exists — read the vendor advisory below for the authoritative guidance.
Official advisory · high-confidence parse· fetched 12 days ago·verify at source
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