CVE-2026-16742Public exploit

Local privilege escalation via unsigned home-record adoption

Published Aug 10, 2026 · Updated Aug 10, 2026

Privilege escalation in affected systemd-homed 245 through 261 releases allows local users to gain root through a forged home record. The home_authenticating_finish handler adopts and persists a newer user-controlled ~/.identity record without verifying its cryptographic signature, allowing a forged memberOf field to reach NSS. Exploitation requires a logged-in homed-managed user with an active home, the user's valid authentication secret, and a fresh login to receive a privileged system group's supplementary GID.

CVSS severity6.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.06%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in affected systemd-homed 245 through 261 releases allows local users to gain root through a forged home record. The home_authenticating_finish handler adopts and persists a newer user-controlled ~/.identity record without verifying its cryptographic signature, allowing a forged memberOf field to reach NSS. Exploitation requires a logged-in homed-managed user with an active home, the user's valid authentication secret, and a fresh login to receive a privileged system group's supplementary GID.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-16742
Published
Aug 10, 2026
Updated
Aug 10, 2026
Vendor
systemd
Product
systemd-homed
Classifications
CWE-269, CWE-347, T1098.007
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 10, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 10, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=245 <262, 261.2, 260.4, 259.8, 258.10

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

systemd · systemd-homedversion=245 <262, 261.2, 260.4, 259.8, 258.10

Published CVSS scores

6.7systemd CNACVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
8.8Original report in systemd GitHub advisoryCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-269Improper Privilege Management
CWE-347Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature
T1098.007Additional Local or Domain Groups

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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