CVE-2026-11837
Ansible-collection-ansible-posix: ansible.posix authorized_key: local privilege escalation via symlink-following chown
HIGH 7.3
At a glance
- Source
- NVD
- EPSS
- EPSS 0.16 % · percentile 5 ()
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Published
- Updated
- Assigner
- redhat
- NVD status
- Awaiting Analysis
Description
A local privilege escalation vulnerability was found in the ansible.posix authorized_key module. The module's keyfile() function uses os.chown() instead of os.lchown() and opens files without O_NOFOLLOW when managing SSH authorized keys. An unprivileged local user can pre-stage symbolic links in their ~/.ssh directory to redirect file ownership changes to arbitrary system paths when an operator runs the authorized_key task as root, leading to local privilege escalation.
Weaknesses (CWE)
- CWE-59 — Link Following
References
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:79112
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:80508
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82339
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-11837
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2487424
- https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-11837.json
Scores
| Version | Score | Vector | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH 7.3 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H | redhat |
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH 7.3 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H | redhat-SADP |
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH 7.3 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H | NVD · secalert@redhat.com (Secondary) |
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH 7.3 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H | NVD · 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c (Secondary) |
European references
- ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-35982
- GCVE · GCVE-0-2026-11837
Affected products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
| Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update Support | unaffected 0:0.2.3-6.el10_0.2 < * |
| Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support | unaffected 0:0.1.8-2.el8_6.1 < * |
| Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On | unaffected 0:0.1.8-2.el8_6.1 < * |
| Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update Service | unaffected 0:0.1.8-5.el8_8.1 < * |
| Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Update Services for SAP Solutions | unaffected 0:0.1.8-5.el8_8.1 < * |
| Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | |
| Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | |
| Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | |
| Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | |
| Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | |
| Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | |
| Red Hat · Red Hat OpenStack Platform 17.1 | |
| Red Hat · Red Hat OpenStack Platform 18.0 |
Sources
| Source | Licence |
|---|---|
| CVE List (CVEProject cvelistV5) | CVE Program Terms of Use |
| EPSS (FIRST.org) | FIRST — attribution requested |
| ENISA EUVD | ENISA — reproduction authorised, source acknowledged |
| NVD (NIST) via fkie-cad/nvd-json-data-feeds | Public domain — this product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD |