🔐 CVE Alert

CVE-2026-16552

MEDIUM 6.3

Systemd: systemd-tmpfiles symlink-redirected arbitrary file overwrite via a chase_safe root-to-unprivileged ownership transition bypass

CVSS Score
6.3
EPSS Score
0.0%
EPSS Percentile
0th

A flaw was found in systemd-tmpfiles. When processing a tmpfiles.d configuration entry that writes to a file, systemd-tmpfiles can follow a symbolic link placed by an unprivileged local user, and an existing safety check does not detect this specific case because it always treats transitions away from the root user as safe. On systems where a tmpfiles.d configuration targets a path an unprivileged user can influence, this could allow that user to redirect a privileged systemd-tmpfiles write to a file of their choosing, though the content written remains determined by the existing configuration rather than by the unprivileged user. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to integrity.

CWE CWE-59
Vendor red hat
Product red hat enterprise linux 10
Published Jul 22, 2026
Last Updated Jul 22, 2026
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CVSS v3 Breakdown

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Affected Versions

Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
All versions affected
Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
All versions affected
Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
All versions affected
Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
All versions affected
Red Hat / Red Hat Hardened Images
All versions affected
Red Hat / Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
All versions affected

References

NVD ↗ CVE.org ↗ EPSS Data ↗
access.redhat.com: https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-16552 bugzilla.redhat.com: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2506073 github.com: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/b9ef5951f8f9e156479494fdb9ca6274cb3d3c53/src/basic/chase.c github.com: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/b9ef5951f8f9e156479494fdb9ca6274cb3d3c53/src/tmpfiles/tmpfiles.c

Credits

Red Hat would like to thank İbrahim Sağlam (Eresus Security) for reporting this issue.