CVE-2026-61897

HIGH 7.8

accountsservice: incomplete privilege drop when running Ubuntu-specific language helper scripts

CVSS Score

7.8

EPSS Score

0.0%

EPSS Percentile

0th

An Ubuntu-specific patch to AccountsService before 23.13.9-8ubuntu7 only partially drops privileges before launching language helper scripts. It changes the effective UID/GID to the target user but leaves the real UID as 0 (root). A shell spawned by a helper script inherits ruid=0 and may reset its effective UID to root, enabling local privilege escalation.

CWE	CWE-273
Vendor	canonical
Product	accountsservice
Ecosystems	Linux
Industries	Technology
Published	Aug 20, 2026

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CVSS v3 Breakdown

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector

Attack Complexity

Privileges Required

User Interaction

Scope

Confidentiality

Integrity

Availability

Affected Versions

Canonical / accountsservice

22.07.5-2ubuntu1 < 22.07.5-2ubuntu1.6 23.13.9-2ubuntu6 < 23.13.9-2ubuntu6.1 23.13.9-8ubuntu5 < 23.13.9-8ubuntu5.2 23.13.9-8ubuntu6 < 23.13.9-8ubuntu7

References

NVD ↗ CVE.org ↗ EPSS Data ↗

bugs.launchpad.net: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/accountsservice/+bug/2157985 ubuntu.com: https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-61897

Credits

Deutsche Telekom Security GmbH Red Team