Privileged group access via incomplete _uid drop
Published Aug 18, 2026 · Updated Aug 18, 2026
Privilege boundary failure in amoffat sh before 2.2.4 allows local users to retain privileged group access via the _uid option. In sh.py, the _uid privilege-drop path does not fully reinitialize the child process's target GID and group membership before setuid; the fixing commit adds an explicit os.setgid(target_gid) step alongside initgroups to stop inherited privileged group access from surviving. Exposure is limited to Linux and Unix-like deployments that launch commands from a privileged parent and treat _uid as a security boundary, allowing affected children to keep access to files or resources granted through privileged groups.
Summary
What happened
Privilege boundary failure in amoffat sh before 2.2.4 allows local users to retain privileged group access via the _uid option. In sh.py, the _uid privilege-drop path does not fully reinitialize the child process's target GID and group membership before setuid; the fixing commit adds an explicit os.setgid(target_gid) step alongside initgroups to stop inherited privileged group access from surviving. Exposure is limited to Linux and Unix-like deployments that launch commands from a privileged parent and treat _uid as a security boundary, allowing affected children to keep access to files or resources granted through privileged groups.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-54552
- Published
- Aug 18, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 18, 2026
- Vendor
- amoffat
- Product
- sh
- Classifications
- CWE-273, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 18, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 18, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=< 2.2.4
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What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
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Your stack
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