CVE-2026-61897 (GCVE-0-2026-61897)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-08-20 14:32 – Updated: 2026-08-20 14:32
VLAI
Title
accountsservice: incomplete privilege drop when running Ubuntu-specific language helper scripts
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.
Severity
7.8 (High)
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CWE
  • CWE-273 - Improper Check for Dropped Privileges
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
Canonical accountsservice Affected: 22.07.5-2ubuntu1 , < 22.07.5-2ubuntu1.6 (dpkg)
Affected: 23.13.9-2ubuntu6 , < 23.13.9-2ubuntu6.1 (dpkg)
Affected: 23.13.9-8ubuntu5 , < 23.13.9-8ubuntu5.2 (dpkg)
Affected: 23.13.9-8ubuntu6 , < 23.13.9-8ubuntu7 (dpkg)
guessed Create a notification for this product.
Credits
Deutsche Telekom Security GmbH Red Team
Show details on NVD website
To clipboard 

{
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            "Ubuntu 24.04 LTS",
            "Ubuntu 26.04 LTS",
            "Ubuntu 26.10"
          ],
          "product": "accountsservice",
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        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
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            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
            "version": "3.1"
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      "problemTypes": [
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      },
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          "name": "Launchpad Bug #2157985",
          "tags": [
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        },
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          "url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-61897"
        }
      ],
      "title": "accountsservice: incomplete privilege drop when running Ubuntu-specific language helper scripts"
    }
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  "cveMetadata": {
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    "assignerShortName": "canonical",
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    "datePublished": "2026-08-20T14:32:53.827Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-07-11T18:43:51.251Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-20T14:32:53.827Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
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  "vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
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      "date": "2026-08-24",
      "epss": "0.00097",
      "percentile": "0.00814"
    },
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    "redhat_vex": {
      "aggregate_severity": "Important",
      "current_release_date": "2026-08-24T10:42:45+00:00",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-61897",
      "id": "CVE-2026-61897",
      "initial_release_date": "2026-08-20T14:32:53.827000+00:00",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "14",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "accountsservice: AccountsService: Local privilege escalation via incomplete privilege drop in language helper scripts",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-61897.json",
      "version": "3"
    }
  }
}



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