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.
Published: 2026-09-18
Score: 6 Medium
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

Analysis and contextual insights are available on OpenCVE Cloud.

Remediation

Vendor Workaround

Avoid using the privileged owner-assignment directory-creation flow in Cockpit Files inside directories that are writable by untrusted local users. Restrict write permissions on shared parent directories, and where directories must remain shared and writable, apply the sticky bit so users cannot replace directory entries they do not own. Creating directories without an owner assignment does not trigger the vulnerable privileged chown path and can be used where the owner-setting feature is not required. Updated packages that address this flaw are being delivered for the actively maintained releases.

Tracking

Sign in to view the affected projects.

Advisories

No advisories yet.

History

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 04:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
CPEs cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9 cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream
References

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 21:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Sat, 19 Sep 2026 00:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

threat_severity

Moderate


Fri, 18 Sep 2026 21:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
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.
Title Cockpit-files: cockpit-files: local attacker can hijack file ownership via symlink race
First Time appeared Redhat
Redhat enterprise Linux
Weaknesses CWE-363
CPEs cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9
Vendors & Products Redhat
Redhat enterprise Linux
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 6, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N'}


Subscriptions

Redhat Enterprise Linux
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: redhat

Published:

Updated: 2026-10-19T04:00:39.134Z

Reserved: 2026-09-14T21:59:16.679Z

Link: CVE-2026-91205

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-09-21T20:05:42.712Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2026-09-18T20:17:29.533

Modified: 2026-10-19T04:17:13.937

Link: CVE-2026-91205

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2026-09-18T16:33:00Z

Links: CVE-2026-91205 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-09-21T19:24:54Z

Weaknesses
  • CWE-363

    Race Condition Enabling Link Following