CVE-2026-61897

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.

Score

CVSS 3.1 7.8 High

Status

Awaiting Analysis - security@ubuntu.com

Published

2026-08-20

Last modified

2026-10-18

Weaknesses

CWE-273

Affected products

• Accountsservice (Canonical)

References

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