๐Ÿ” CVE Alert

CVE-2026-96512

HIGH 7.8

Sudo: sudo: tz environment variable allows bypass of notbefore/notafter time-based authorization

CVSS Score
7.8
EPSS Score
0.0%
EPSS Percentile
0th

A flaw was found in sudo. When sudoers rules use NOTBEFORE or NOTAFTER time-based access restrictions with timestamps that omit the trailing 'Z' timezone indicator, the time evaluation relies on the TZ environment variable inherited from the calling user. Because sudo is a setuid-root program, an unprivileged local user can set TZ to an extreme timezone offset to shift the authorization window by up to approximately 25 hours, causing expired rules to be treated as valid. This allows the user to execute commands outside the intended time window. Authentication is not bypassed; only the time-based authorization check is affected.

CWE CWE-863
Vendor red hat
Product red hat enterprise linux 10
Published Sep 23, 2026
Last Updated Sep 23, 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
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
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

References

NVD โ†— CVE.org โ†— EPSS Data โ†—
access.redhat.com: https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-96512 bugzilla.redhat.com: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2539327 github.com: https://github.com/sudo-project/sudo/commit/1820a349687522f51023d1ae5925125f59679a8c

Credits

Upstream acknowledges Ermenson Junior (Independent security research) as the original reporter.