7.3
HIGH CVSS 4.0
CVE-2026-6970
authd Denial of Service and Local Privilege Escalation
Description

authd prior to version 0.6.4 contains a logic error in primary group ID assignment that can lead to local privilege escalation. When a user's primary group ID (GID) differs from their UID, either because the account was created with authd prior to version 0.5.4 or because the primary group was manually changed via the `authctl group set-gid` command, and the user's identity provider record is updated, authd incorrectly resets the user's primary group ID to their UID upon next login. This causes newly created files and directories to be owned by the wrong group, causing denial of service issues, and potentially granting unintended access to other local users and allowing local privilege escalation.

INFO

Published Date :

April 27, 2026, 4:16 p.m.

Last Modified :

April 27, 2026, 6:35 p.m.

Remotely Exploit :

No
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-6970 vulnerability. Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the products that are affected, the information is not represented in the table below.

No affected product recoded yet

CVSS Scores
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 4.0 HIGH cc1ad9ee-3454-478d-9317-d3e869d708bc
CVSS 4.0 HIGH [email protected]
Solution
Update authd to version 0.6.4 or later to fix privilege escalation.
  • Update authd to version 0.6.4 or later.
  • Verify user primary group IDs after update.
  • Reset incorrect primary group IDs manually.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools

Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to CVE-2026-6970.

URL Resource
https://github.com/canonical/authd/commit/154b428305cb1a7a19c897626fefd09d6dde8b9f
https://github.com/canonical/authd/security/advisories/GHSA-fg3j-5w9g-hmg7
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-6970 is associated with the following CWEs:

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-6970 weaknesses.

We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).

Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.

The following list is the news that have been mention CVE-2026-6970 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2026-6970 vulnerability over time.

Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.

  • New CVE Received by [email protected]

    Apr. 27, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Description authd prior to version 0.6.4 contains a logic error in primary group ID assignment that can lead to local privilege escalation. When a user's primary group ID (GID) differs from their UID, either because the account was created with authd prior to version 0.5.4 or because the primary group was manually changed via the `authctl group set-gid` command, and the user's identity provider record is updated, authd incorrectly resets the user's primary group ID to their UID upon next login. This causes newly created files and directories to be owned by the wrong group, causing denial of service issues, and potentially granting unintended access to other local users and allowing local privilege escalation.
    Added CVSS V4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
    Added CWE CWE-842
    Added Reference https://github.com/canonical/authd/commit/154b428305cb1a7a19c897626fefd09d6dde8b9f
    Added Reference https://github.com/canonical/authd/security/advisories/GHSA-fg3j-5w9g-hmg7
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.