Libcap: libcap: privilege escalation via toctou race condition in cap_set_file()

Summary

CVECVE-2026-4878
StatePUBLISHED
Assignerredhat
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-04-09 16:16:31 UTC
Updated2026-06-27 08:16:45 UTC
DescriptionA flaw was found in libcap. A local unprivileged user can exploit a Time-of-check-to-time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition in the `cap_set_file()` function. This allows an attacker with write access to a parent directory to redirect file capability updates to an attacker-controlled file. By doing so, capabilities can be injected into or stripped from unintended executables, leading to privilege escalation.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 7 HIGH from [email protected]

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

EPSS: 0.001880000 probability, percentile 0.086100000 (date 2026-06-26)

Problem Types: CWE-367 | CWE-367 Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition


VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Primary7HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
3.1[email protected]Secondary6.7MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
3.1CNACVSS6.7MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Application Libcap Project Libcap - All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux 10.0 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux 8.0 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux 9.0 All All All
Application Redhat Openshift Container Platform 4.0 All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 unaffected 0:2.69-7.el10_1.1 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 unaffected 0:2.69-7.el10_2.1 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update Support unaffected 0:2.69-7.el10_0.1 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 unaffected 0:2.48-6.el8_10.1 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support unaffected 0:2.48-4.el8_6.1 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On unaffected 0:2.48-4.el8_6.1 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update Service unaffected 0:2.48-5.el8_8.1 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Update Services For SAP Solutions unaffected 0:2.48-5.el8_8.1 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 unaffected 0:2.48-10.el9_7.1 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 unaffected 0:2.48-10.el9_8.1 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 unaffected 0:2.48-10.el9_7.1 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 unaffected 0:2.48-10.el9_8.1 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Update Services For SAP Solutions unaffected 0:2.48-9.el9_2.1 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 Extended Update Support unaffected 0:2.48-9.el9_4.1 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support unaffected 0:2.48-9.el9_6.1 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13 unaffected 413.92.202606160406-0 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 unaffected 415.92.202606030318-0 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.16 unaffected 416.94.202606051757-0 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18 unaffected 418.94.202606051320-0 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.19 unaffected 4.19.9.6.202606031700-0 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Cost Management 4 unaffected 1780946239 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.2 unaffected 1780681984 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.3 unaffected 1782352950 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.3 unaffected 1782352919 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.3 unaffected 1782353093 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.3 unaffected 1782352847 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Discovery 2 unaffected 1778101579 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Discovery 2 unaffected 1778156756 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Discovery 2 unaffected 1782159791 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Discovery 2 unaffected 1782166952 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Hardened Images unaffected 2.78-1.1.hum1 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Insights Proxy 1.5 unaffected 1780420428 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Distributed Tracing 3.9.3 unaffected 1778056267 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Distributed Tracing 3.9.3 unaffected 1778056233 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Distributed Tracing 3.9.3 unaffected 1778056245 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Update Infrastructure 5 unaffected 1779798159 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Update Infrastructure 5 unaffected 1779798164 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Update Infrastructure 5 unaffected 1779798165 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Update Infrastructure 5 unaffected 1779798222 * rpm Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Not specified Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Not specified Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Not specified Not specified
CNA Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Not specified Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:30078 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:29197 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:7473 [email protected] access.redhat.com Vendor Advisory
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:14162 [email protected] access.redhat.com
www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/04/07/14 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.openwall.com Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:21275 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:23245 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:12441 [email protected] access.redhat.com
www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/04/07/4 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.openwall.com Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:21254 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:27998 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:25096 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:14937 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:12423 [email protected] access.redhat.com
www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/04/09/6 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.openwall.com Exploit, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:30088 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:19130 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:13285 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-4878 [email protected] access.redhat.com Vendor Advisory
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:30089 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:22957 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:26542 [email protected] access.redhat.com
www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/04/09/5 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.openwall.com Exploit, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:22634 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:19458 [email protected] access.redhat.com
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi [email protected] bugzilla.redhat.com Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory
www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/04/08/9 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.openwall.com Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:24346 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:19346 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:25181 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:20595 [email protected] access.redhat.com
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi [email protected] bugzilla.redhat.com Permissions Required
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:30087 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:23233 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:19456 [email protected] access.redhat.com
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:25044 [email protected] access.redhat.com
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

Vendor Comments And Credit

Discovery Credit

CNA: Red Hat would like to thank Ali Raza for reporting this issue. (en)

Additional Advisory Data

SourceTimeEvent
CNA2026-03-26T06:56:21.213ZReported to Red Hat.
CNA2026-04-06T00:00:00.000ZMade public.

Workarounds

CNA: Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base, or stability.

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