Arbitrary file ownership changes via symlink following
Published Sep 18, 2026 · Updated Sep 18, 2026
Symlink following in cockpit-files on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and 10 allows local users to change arbitrary file ownership. During privileged Paste as owner, cockpit-files follows a symlink in a crafted directory tree and applies the chosen owner beyond the paste destination. A low-privileged user must prepare the tree, and a superuser-mode operator must choose a non-original owner; exploitation alters file integrity and can expose readable data.
Summary
What happened
Symlink following in cockpit-files on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and 10 allows local users to change arbitrary file ownership. During privileged Paste as owner, cockpit-files follows a symlink in a crafted directory tree and applies the chosen owner beyond the paste destination. A low-privileged user must prepare the tree, and a superuser-mode operator must choose a non-original owner; exploitation alters file integrity and can expose readable data.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-91202
- Published
- Sep 18, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 18, 2026
- Vendor
- Commonhaus Foundation
- Product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Classifications
- CWE-61, T1222.002
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 18, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 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?
Affected versions are unavailable in this record. Check the vendor advisory for version and patch details.
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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