CVE-2026-91151
Cockpit: cockpit: local privilege escalation via insecure symlink handling in public key addition helper
Description
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.
INFO
Published Date :
Nov. 11, 2026, 8:17 p.m.
Last Modified :
Nov. 11, 2026, 8:17 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
[email protected]
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2026-91151
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.
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | 53f830b8-0a3f-465b-8143-3b8a9948e749 | ||||
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | MITRE-CVE | ||||
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | [email protected] |
Solution
- Update Cockpit to the latest version.
- Review and restrict access to SSH key directories.
- Disable the ssh-add-public-key.sh helper if not needed.
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-2026-91151.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-91151 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-2026-91151
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-2026-91151 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-91151 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]
Nov. 11, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description 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. Added CVSS V3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Added CWE CWE-59 Added Affected New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/91xxx/CVE-2026-91151.json">CVE-2026-91151</a> Added Reference https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-91151 Added Reference https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2478404 Added Reference https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/commit/4796b28be064a90e32262cec85be7839e6198e23 Added Reference https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/releases/tag/372