CVE-2026-91151
Cockpit: cockpit: local privilege escalation via insecure symlink handling in public key addition helper
A flaw was found in Cockpit. A local authenticated user with control over a target account's home directory can exploit a privileged symlink dereference vulnerability in the ssh-add-public-key.sh helper. When this helper runs with elevated privileges, it can be tricked into following attacker-controlled symlinks within the .ssh or authorized_keys paths. This allows the attacker to arbitrarily change file ownership and modes, potentially leading to local privilege escalation and impacting the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the system.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used 7.3
Cockpit: cockpit: local privilege escalation via insecure symlink handling in public key addition helper
A flaw was found in Cockpit. A local authenticated user with control over a target account's home directory can exploit a privileged symlink dereference vulnerability in the ssh-add-public-key.sh helper. When this helper runs with elevated privileges, it can be tricked into following attacker-controlled symlinks within the .ssh or authorized_keys paths. This allows the attacker to arbitrarily change file ownership and modes, potentially leading to local privilege escalation and impacting the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the system.
- Record
CVE-2026-91151- CVSS 3.1
- 7.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-59
- Updated
- 2026-11-12
EUVDEUVD-2026-123794 7.3
A flaw was found in Cockpit. A local authenticated user with control over a target account's home directory can exploit a privileged symlink dereference vulnerability in the ssh-add-public-key.sh helper. When this helper runs with elevated privileges, it can be tricked into following attacker-controlled symlinks within the .ssh or authorized_keys paths. This allows the attacker to arbitrarily change file ownership and modes, potentially leading to local privilege escalation and impacting the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the system.
- Record
EUVD-2026-123794- CVSS 3.1
- 7.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-12
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-7vqx-f59g-6xhv 7.3
A flaw was found in Cockpit. A local authenticated user with control over a target account's home...
A flaw was found in Cockpit. A local authenticated user with control over a target account's home directory can exploit a privileged symlink dereference vulnerability in the ssh-add-public-key.sh helper. When this helper runs with elevated privileges, it can be tricked into following attacker-controlled symlinks within the .ssh or authorized_keys paths. This allows the attacker to arbitrarily change file ownership and modes, potentially leading to local privilege escalation and impacting the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the system.
- Record
GHSA-7vqx-f59g-6xhv- CVSS 3.1
- 7.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-59
- Updated
- 2026-11-12
NVD 7.3
A flaw was found in Cockpit. A local authenticated user with control over a target account's home directory can exploit a privileged symlink dereference vulnerability in the ssh-add-public-key.sh helper. When this helper runs with elevated privileges, it can be tricked into following attacker-controlled symlinks within the .ssh or authorized_keys paths. This allows the attacker to arbitrarily change file ownership and modes, potentially leading to local privilege escalation and impacting the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the system.
- Record
CVE-2026-91151- CVSS 3.1
- 7.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-59
- Updated
- 2026-11-12
OSV 7.3
Cockpit: cockpit: local privilege escalation via insecure symlink handling in public key addition helper
A flaw was found in Cockpit. A local authenticated user with control over a target account's home directory can exploit a privileged symlink dereference vulnerability in the ssh-add-public-key.sh helper. When this helper runs with elevated privileges, it can be tricked into following attacker-controlled symlinks within the .ssh or authorized_keys paths. This allows the attacker to arbitrarily change file ownership and modes, potentially leading to local privilege escalation and impacting the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the system.
- Record
CVE-2026-91151- CVSS 3.1
- 7.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-59
- Updated
- 2026-11-13
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2026-91151 7.3
A flaw was found in Cockpit. A local authenticated user with control over a target account's home directory can exploit a privileged symlink dereference vulnerability in the ssh-add-public-key.sh helper. When this helper runs with elevated privileges, it can be tricked into following attacker-controlled symlinks within the .ssh or authorized_keys paths. This allows the attacker to arbitrarily change file ownership and modes, potentially leading to local privilege escalation and impacting the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the system.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2026-91151- CVSS 3.1
- 7.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-13
OSVRLSA-2026:99603 7.5
Important: cockpit security update
Cockpit enables users to administer GNU/Linux servers using a web browser. It offers network configuration, log inspection, diagnostic reports, SELinux troubleshooting, interactive command-line sessions, and more.
Security Fix(es):
cockpit: Cockpit: Local privilege escalation via insecure symlink handling in public key addition helper (CVE-2026-91151)
cockpit: cockpit: Denial of Service via unbounded fragmented WebSocket messages (CVE-2026-91150)
For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.
- Record
RLSA-2026:99603- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-13
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2026-91151No score
A flaw was found in Cockpit. A local authenticated user with control over a target account's home directory can exploit a privileged symlink dereference vulnerability in the ssh-add-public-key.sh helper. When this helper runs with elevated privileges, it can be tricked into following attacker-controlled symlinks within the .ssh or authorized_keys paths. This allows the attacker to arbitrarily change file ownership and modes, potentially leading to local privilege escalation and impacting the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the system.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2026-91151- Updated
- 2026-11-13
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
cockpitDebian:12 | All versions, plus listed versions 287-1287.1-0+deb12u1287.1-0+deb12u2287.1-0+deb12u3288.1-1 Show 45 moreShow less289-1290-1291-1292-1293-1294-1294.1-1295-1296-1297-1297-1~bpo12+1298-1299-1299-1~bpo12+1300-1300.1-1300.1-1~bpo12+1301-1301-1~bpo12+1302-1303-1303-1~bpo12+1304-1305-1305-1~bpo12+1306-1306-1~bpo12+1307-1307-1~bpo12+1308-1308-1~bpo12+1309-1309-1~bpo12+1310-1310.1-1310.1-1~bpo12+1311-1311-1~bpo12+1312-1313-1314-1316-1317-1317-2317-3 | None known |
cockpitDebian:13 | All versions, plus listed versions 337-1337-1+deb13u1337-1+deb13u2338-1339-1 Show 41 moreShow less340-1341.1-1342-1343-1345-1345-1~bpo13+1346-1346-1~bpo13+1348-1348-1~bpo13+1350-1350-1~bpo13+1352-1352-1~bpo13+1353.1-1353.1-1~bpo13+1354-1354-1~bpo13+1355-1355-1~bpo13+1356-1356-1~bpo13+1358-1358-1~bpo13+1360-1360-1~bpo13+1362-1362-1~bpo13+1365-1365-1~bpo13+1366-1366-1~bpo13+1367-1367-1~bpo13+1368-1368-1~bpo13+1370-1370-1~bpo13+1371-1371-1~bpo13+1372-1 | None known |
cockpitDebian:14 | before 372-1, plus listed versions 337-1338-1339-1340-1341.1-1 Show 38 moreShow less342-1343-1345-1345-1~bpo13+1346-1346-1~bpo13+1348-1348-1~bpo13+1350-1350-1~bpo13+1352-1352-1~bpo13+1353.1-1353.1-1~bpo13+1354-1354-1~bpo13+1355-1355-1~bpo13+1356-1356-1~bpo13+1358-1358-1~bpo13+1360-1360-1~bpo13+1362-1362-1~bpo13+1365-1365-1~bpo13+1366-1366-1~bpo13+1367-1367-1~bpo13+1368-1368-1~bpo13+1370-1370-1~bpo13+1371-1371-1~bpo13+1 | 372-1 |
cockpitRocky Linux:8 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs | before 0:310.10.2-1.el8_10 | 0:310.10.2-1.el8_10 |
cockpit-bridgeRocky Linux:8 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs | before 0:310.10.2-1.el8_10 | 0:310.10.2-1.el8_10 |
cockpit-debuginfoRocky Linux:8 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs | before 0:310.10.2-1.el8_10 | 0:310.10.2-1.el8_10 |
cockpit-debugsourceRocky Linux:8 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs | before 0:310.10.2-1.el8_10 | 0:310.10.2-1.el8_10 |
cockpit-wsRocky Linux:8 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs | before 0:310.10.2-1.el8_10 | 0:310.10.2-1.el8_10 |
cockpit-docRocky Linux:8 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs | before 0:310.10.2-1.el8_10 | 0:310.10.2-1.el8_10 |
cockpit-systemRocky Linux:8 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs | before 0:310.10.2-1.el8_10 | 0:310.10.2-1.el8_10 |
Show 6 moreShow less
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
cockpitUbuntu:18.04:LTS | All versions, plus listed versions 151-1156-1157-1158-1160-1 Show 4 moreShow less161-1162-1163-1164-1 | None known |
cockpitUbuntu:20.04:LTS | All versions, plus listed versions 202.1-1204-1206-1207-1208-1 Show 6 moreShow less210-1211-1212-1213-1214.1-1215-1 | None known |
cockpitUbuntu:22.04:LTS | All versions, plus listed versions 252-1256-1257-1258-1259-1 Show 6 moreShow less260-1261-1262-1263-1264-1264-1ubuntu0.22.04.1 | None known |
cockpitUbuntu:24.04:LTS | All versions, plus listed versions 300.1-1303-1304-1305-1306-1 Show 7 moreShow less307-1308-1309-1310.1-1311-1312-1build2314-1 | None known |
cockpitUbuntu:26.10 | All versions, plus listed versions 360-1362-1365-1367-1 | None known |
cockpitUbuntu:26.04:LTS | All versions, plus listed versions 346-1348-1350-1352-1353.1-1 Show 4 moreShow less354-1355-1356-1360-1 | None known |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected, aliases, references | OSV | |
| affected, facts | OSV | |
| references | OSV | |
| affected, aliases, references | EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV | |
| products, references | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD | |
| references | CVE List | |
| products, references | EUVD | |
| references | CVE List, EUVD, NVD | |
| references | CVE List | |
| references | GitHub Advisories |
Show 7 moreShow less
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| references | OSV | |
| affected, published | EUVD, OSV | |
| aliases, references | GitHub Advisories | |
| products, references, severity, title | CVE List | |
| aliases | EUVD | |
| cwes, description, references, severity | NVD | |
| first indexed | OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2026-91151 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.3) in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, published November 11, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.16%, the 4th percentile. Fixed in cockpit 372-1.
References
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:99599
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:99600
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:99601
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:99602
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:99603
access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-91151
Show 12 moreShow less
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2478404
github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/commit/4796b28be064a90e32262cec85be7839e6198e23
github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/releases/tag/372
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-91151
github.com/advisories/GHSA-7vqx-f59g-6xhv
access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/91xxx/CVE-2026-91151.json
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-91151
errata.rockylinux.org/RLSA-2026:99603
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2478436
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-91151
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-91151
Left out here: 85 versions. The JSON record has them.