CVE-2026-61897Hinoki check available

Local privilege escalation via incomplete SetLanguage privilege drop

Published Aug 20, 2026 · Updated Aug 20, 2026

Privilege escalation in Canonical AccountsService allows local users to regain root via Ubuntu-specific SetLanguage helper scripts. The Ubuntu 0010-set-language.patch path that launches locale helpers in src/user.c changes only the effective UID and GID to the target user and leaves the real UID as 0 before the helper runs. Any helper that spawns a shell inherits ruid=0 and can restore effective root, so exploitation requires local access to the SetLanguage path but no administrator privileges or user interaction.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.10%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkAvailable
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in Canonical AccountsService allows local users to regain root via Ubuntu-specific SetLanguage helper scripts. The Ubuntu 0010-set-language.patch path that launches locale helpers in src/user.c changes only the effective UID and GID to the target user and leaves the real UID as 0 before the helper runs. Any helper that spawns a shell inherits ruid=0 and can restore effective root, so exploitation requires local access to the SetLanguage path but no administrator privileges or user interaction.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-61897
Published
Aug 20, 2026
Updated
Aug 20, 2026
Vendor
Canonical
Product
AccountsService
Classifications
CWE-273, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 20, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 20, 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=22.07.5-2ubuntu1 <22.07.5-2ubuntu1.6
  2. Affected versionversion=23.13.9-2ubuntu6 <23.13.9-2ubuntu6.1
  3. Affected versionversion=23.13.9-8ubuntu5 <23.13.9-8ubuntu5.2
  4. Affected versionversion=23.13.9-8ubuntu6 <23.13.9-8ubuntu7

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Canonical · AccountsServiceversion=22.07.5-2ubuntu1 <22.07.5-2ubuntu1.6; version=23.13.9-2ubuntu6 <23.13.9-2ubuntu6.1; version=23.13.9-8ubuntu5 <23.13.9-8ubuntu5.2; version=23.13.9-8ubuntu6 <23.13.9-8ubuntu7

Published CVSS scores

7.8Canonical Ltd.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-273Improper Check for Dropped Privileges
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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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