In Flatpak before 1.18.1, the revokefs writer, used by the flatpak-system-helper to receive repository data from unprivileged callers, validated file paths by rejecting literal .. components but did not prevent symlink traversal. A malicious local user in an active local session could obtain two revokefs sessions via the system helper, create a symlink in one session pointing into the other session's directory, and retain a file descriptor through that symlink. This allowed the attacker to modify files belonging to a different revokefs session after they had been validated and imported by the system helper. In particular, an attacker could use this to tamper with ostree commit objects in the system repository after they passed signature verification, enabling root-controlled file writes to attacker-chosen paths and local root privilege escalation.
Metrics
Affected Vendors & Products
References
History
Thu, 24 Sep 2026 00:15:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Symlink Traversal in Flatpak Revokefs Enables Local Root Privilege Escalation | flatpak: Flatpak: Local privilege escalation via symlink traversal in revokefs writer |
| Weaknesses | CWE-59 | |
| References |
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| Metrics |
threat_severity
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threat_severity
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Wed, 23 Sep 2026 20:30:00 +0000
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| Metrics |
ssvc
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Wed, 23 Sep 2026 19:00:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
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| Title | Symlink Traversal in Flatpak Revokefs Enables Local Root Privilege Escalation |
Wed, 23 Sep 2026 17:15:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
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| Description | In Flatpak before 1.18.1, the revokefs writer, used by the flatpak-system-helper to receive repository data from unprivileged callers, validated file paths by rejecting literal .. components but did not prevent symlink traversal. A malicious local user in an active local session could obtain two revokefs sessions via the system helper, create a symlink in one session pointing into the other session's directory, and retain a file descriptor through that symlink. This allowed the attacker to modify files belonging to a different revokefs session after they had been validated and imported by the system helper. In particular, an attacker could use this to tamper with ostree commit objects in the system repository after they passed signature verification, enabling root-controlled file writes to attacker-chosen paths and local root privilege escalation. | |
| First Time appeared |
Flatpak
Flatpak flatpak |
|
| Weaknesses | CWE-61 | |
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:a:flatpak:flatpak:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Flatpak
Flatpak flatpak |
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| References |
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| Metrics |
cvssV3_1
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Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: mitre
Published: 2026-09-23T16:58:37.139Z
Updated: 2026-09-23T18:22:46.208Z
Reserved: 2026-09-23T16:58:36.801Z
Link: CVE-2026-96808
Updated: 2026-09-23T18:22:41.941Z
Status : Awaiting Analysis
Published: 2026-09-23T17:17:25.860
Modified: 2026-09-24T21:00:46.893
Link: CVE-2026-96808