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NVD / CVE Program· CNA redhat

CVE-2026-91151: Cockpit: cockpit: local privilege escalation via insecure symlink handling in public key addition helper

HighCVSS 7.3 · v3.1—No exploit No fix recorded

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 29/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.15% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. A user must open a link or visit a page. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • No fixed version is recorded, but the references include a patch (commit or PR) link.

Low priority for now. See the fix and affected versions sections below.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

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.

Published
Nov 11, 2026
Updated
Nov 12, 2026
EPSS
0.1% · 4th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

29

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
29 / 40 · 7.3 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.1%

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · redhat
7.3
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

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  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • No fixed version yet

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

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  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
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  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

—

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (redhat). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10

    • 0:366.1.1-1.el10_3 and laternot affected · rpm

  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.2 Extended Update Support

    • 0:356.4.1-1.el10_2 and laternot affected · rpm

  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

    • all versionsaffected

  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8

    • 0:310.10.2-1.el8_10 and laternot affected · rpm

  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

    • 0:366.1.1-1.el9_9 and laternot affected · rpm
    • 0:366.1.1-1.el9_9 and laternot affected · rpm

  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.8 Extended Update Support

    • 0:356.4.1-1.el9_8 and laternot affected · rpm

  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces

    • all versionsaffected
    • all versionsaffected
    • all versionsaffected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12cockpitfrom 0—

Same product

red hat: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2025-10230Samba: command injection in wins server hook script
    52Plan
  • CVE-2026-4631Cockpit: cockpit: unauthenticated remote code execution due to ssh command-line argument injection
    44Plan
  • CVE-2026-76578Ipa: freeipa: freeipa: unauthenticated ldap client can obtain administrator credentials via the self-managed-token aci
    39Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-108472Nov 11, 2026 · Xfsprogs: xfsprogs: local privilege escalation via command injection in xfs_admin
    31Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-91150Nov 11, 2026 · Cockpit: cockpit: denial of service via unbounded fragmented websocket messages
    30Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-126644Nov 12, 2026 · Ansible.posix: authorized_key module follows a parent-directory symlink allowing writes outside the intended directory
    15Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

  • CVE-2026-8776663 days apartBubblewrap: bubblewrap: symlink traversal via /oldroot allows writing files outside sandbox during setup
    35Monitor
  • CVE-2026-7965578 days apartSos: sos: path traversal in sos clean tar extraction via unvalidated symlink/hardlink targets leads to arbitrary file write
    31Monitor
  • CVE-2026-11837154 days apartAnsible-collection-ansible-posix: ansible.posix authorized_key: local privilege escalation via symlink-following chown
    29Monitor
  • CVE-2026-7269492 days apartMrtg: mrtg daemon symlink-following chown allows local privilege escalation via pid file path manipulation
    28Monitor
  • CVE-2026-11180226 days apartNautilus: nautilus: arbitrary file deletion via trash symlink
    26Monitor
  • CVE-2026-9627945 days apartFlatpak: flatpak: path traversal issue in oci archive extraction via hardlinks
    26Monitor

Not on record for this CVE: public bounty program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • A user must open a link or visit a page.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-59 · Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')

CVSS vector

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

nvd-secondary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

References

Show all references (8 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records