Description
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.
Published: 2026-08-20
Score: 7.8 High
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

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Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

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Tracking

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Advisories
Source ID Title
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8580-1 AccountsService vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8580-2 AccountsService vulnerabilities
History

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 14:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description 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.
Title accountsservice: incomplete privilege drop when running Ubuntu-specific language helper scripts
Weaknesses CWE-273
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

Subscriptions

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: canonical

Published:

Updated: 2026-08-20T14:32:53.827Z

Reserved: 2026-07-11T18:43:51.251Z

Link: CVE-2026-61897

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

No data.

cve-icon Redhat

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cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

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Weaknesses