accountsservice: shell injection via attacker-controlled ~/.pam_environment in Ubuntu language helper scripts

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-61898
StatePUBLISHED
Assignercanonical
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-08-20 15:17:38 UTC
Updated2026-08-20 15:17:38 UTC
DescriptionThe Ubuntu-specific language helper scripts (save-to-pam-env, update-langlist) shipped with accountsservice before 23.13.9-8ubuntu7 treat the user-controlled LANGUAGE entry in ~/.pam_environment as trusted input. The value is interpolated unescaped into a GNU sed replacement expression, allowing an attacker to inject a sed 'e' flag and arbitrary shell commands that execute with the privileges of the AccountsService helper process (real UID 0) via the SetLanguage D-Bus method.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.8 HIGH from [email protected]

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

Problem Types: CWE-78 | CWE-78 CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary7.8HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
3.1CNADECLARED7.8HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

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

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

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Canonical Accountsservice affected 22.07.5-2ubuntu1 22.07.5-2ubuntu1.6 dpkg Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, Ubuntu 26.10
CNA Canonical Accountsservice affected 23.13.9-2ubuntu6 23.13.9-2ubuntu6.1 dpkg Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, Ubuntu 26.10
CNA Canonical Accountsservice affected 23.13.9-8ubuntu5 23.13.9-8ubuntu5.2 dpkg Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, Ubuntu 26.10
CNA Canonical Accountsservice affected 23.13.9-8ubuntu6 23.13.9-8ubuntu7 dpkg Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, Ubuntu 26.10

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/accountsservice/+bug/2157985 [email protected] bugs.launchpad.net
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-61898 [email protected] ubuntu.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: Deutsche Telekom Security GmbH Red Team (en)

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