{"api_version":"1","generated_at":"2026-04-22T23:31:28+00:00","cve":"CVE-2026-41651","urls":{"html":"https://cve.report/CVE-2026-41651","api":"https://cve.report/api/cve/CVE-2026-41651.json","docs":"https://cve.report/api","cve_org":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-41651","nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-41651"},"summary":{"title":"PackageKit vulnerable to TOCTOU Race on Transaction Flags leads to arbitrary package installation as root","description":"PackageKit is a a D-Bus abstraction layer that allows the user to manage packages in a secure way using a cross-distro, cross-architecture API. PackageKit between and including versions 1.0.2 and 1.3.4 is vulnerable to a time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition on transaction flags that allows unprivileged users to install packages as root and thus leads to a local privilege escalation. This is patched in version 1.3.5.\n\nA local unprivileged user can install arbitrary RPM packages as root, including executing RPM scriptlets, without authentication. The vulnerability is a TOCTOU race condition on `transaction->cached_transaction_flags`  combined with a silent state-machine guard that discards illegal backward transitions while leaving corrupted flags in place. Three bugs exist in `src/pk-transaction.c`:\n1. Unconditional flag overwrite (line 4036): `InstallFiles()` writes caller-supplied flags to `transaction->cached_transaction_flags` without checking whether the transaction has already been  authorized/started. A second call blindly overwrites the flags even while the transaction is RUNNING.\n2. Silent state-transition rejection (lines 873–882): `pk_transaction_set_state()` silently discards backward state transitions (e.g. `RUNNING` → `WAITING_FOR_AUTH`) but the flag overwrite at step 1 already happened. The transaction continues running with corrupted flags.\n3. Late flag read at execution time (lines 2273–2277): The scheduler's idle callback reads cached_transaction_flags at dispatch time, not at authorization time. If flags were overwritten between authorization and execution, the backend sees the attacker's flags.","state":"PUBLISHED","assigner":"GitHub_M","published_at":"2026-04-22 14:17:04","updated_at":"2026-04-22 21:23:52"},"problem_types":["CWE-367","CWE-367 CWE-367: Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition"],"metrics":[{"version":"3.1","source":"security-advisories@github.com","type":"Secondary","score":"8.8","severity":"HIGH","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H","data":{"version":"3.1","vectorString":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H","baseScore":8.8,"baseSeverity":"HIGH","attackVector":"LOCAL","attackComplexity":"LOW","privilegesRequired":"LOW","userInteraction":"NONE","scope":"CHANGED","confidentialityImpact":"HIGH","integrityImpact":"HIGH","availabilityImpact":"HIGH"}},{"version":"3.1","source":"CNA","type":"DECLARED","score":"8.8","severity":"HIGH","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H","data":{"attackComplexity":"LOW","attackVector":"LOCAL","availabilityImpact":"HIGH","baseScore":8.8,"baseSeverity":"HIGH","confidentialityImpact":"HIGH","integrityImpact":"HIGH","privilegesRequired":"LOW","scope":"CHANGED","userInteraction":"NONE","vectorString":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H","version":"3.1"}}],"references":[{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/04/22/6","name":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/04/22/6","refsource":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108","tags":[],"title":"","mime":"","httpstatus":"","archivestatus":"0"},{"url":"https://github.com/PackageKit/PackageKit/blob/04057883189efa225a7c785591aa87cb299782f8/src/pk-transaction.c#L2273-L2277","name":"https://github.com/PackageKit/PackageKit/blob/04057883189efa225a7c785591aa87cb299782f8/src/pk-transaction.c#L2273-L2277","refsource":"security-advisories@github.com","tags":[],"title":"","mime":"","httpstatus":"","archivestatus":"0"},{"url":"https://github.security.telekom.com/2026/04/pack2theroot-linux-local-privilege-escalation.html","name":"https://github.security.telekom.com/2026/04/pack2theroot-linux-local-privilege-escalation.html","refsource":"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0","tags":[],"title":"","mime":"","httpstatus":"","archivestatus":"0"},{"url":"https://github.com/PackageKit/PackageKit/blob/04057883189efa225a7c785591aa87cb299782f8/src/pk-transaction.c#L873-L882","name":"https://github.com/PackageKit/PackageKit/blob/04057883189efa225a7c785591aa87cb299782f8/src/pk-transaction.c#L873-L882","refsource":"security-advisories@github.com","tags":[],"title":"","mime":"","httpstatus":"","archivestatus":"0"},{"url":"https://github.com/PackageKit/PackageKit/blob/04057883189efa225a7c785591aa87cb299782f8/src/pk-transaction.c#L4036","name":"https://github.com/PackageKit/PackageKit/blob/04057883189efa225a7c785591aa87cb299782f8/src/pk-transaction.c#L4036","refsource":"security-advisories@github.com","tags":[],"title":"","mime":"","httpstatus":"","archivestatus":"0"},{"url":"https://github.com/PackageKit/PackageKit/security/advisories/GHSA-f55j-vvr9-69xv","name":"https://github.com/PackageKit/PackageKit/security/advisories/GHSA-f55j-vvr9-69xv","refsource":"security-advisories@github.com","tags":[],"title":"","mime":"","httpstatus":"","archivestatus":"0"},{"url":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-41651","name":"CVE Program record","refsource":"CVE.ORG","tags":["canonical"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-41651","name":"NVD vulnerability detail","refsource":"NVD","tags":["canonical","analysis"]}],"affected":[{"source":"CNA","vendor":"PackageKit","product":"PackageKit","version":"affected >= 1.0.2, <= 1.3.4","platforms":[]}],"timeline":[],"solutions":[],"workarounds":[],"exploits":[],"credits":[],"nvd_cpes":[],"vendor_comments":[],"enrichments":{"kev":null,"epss":null,"legacy_qids":[]},"source_records":{"cve_program":{"containers":{"adp":[{"providerMetadata":{"dateUpdated":"2026-04-22T17:21:17.120Z","orgId":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108","shortName":"CVE"},"references":[{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/04/22/6"}],"title":"CVE Program Container"},{"metrics":[{"other":{"content":{"id":"CVE-2026-41651","options":[{"Exploitation":"poc"},{"Automatable":"no"},{"Technical Impact":"total"}],"role":"CISA Coordinator","timestamp":"2026-04-22T18:35:57.253778Z","version":"2.0.3"},"type":"ssvc"}}],"providerMetadata":{"dateUpdated":"2026-04-22T18:36:23.661Z","orgId":"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0","shortName":"CISA-ADP"},"references":[{"tags":["exploit"],"url":"https://github.security.telekom.com/2026/04/pack2theroot-linux-local-privilege-escalation.html"}],"title":"CISA ADP Vulnrichment"}],"cna":{"affected":[{"product":"PackageKit","vendor":"PackageKit","versions":[{"status":"affected","version":">= 1.0.2, <= 1.3.4"}]}],"descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"PackageKit is a a D-Bus abstraction layer that allows the user to manage packages in a secure way using a cross-distro, cross-architecture API. 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PackageKit between and including versions 1.0.2 and 1.3.4 is vulnerable to a time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition on transaction flags that allows unprivileged users to install packages as root and thus leads to a local privilege escalation. This is patched in version 1.3.5.\n\nA local unprivileged user can install arbitrary RPM packages as root, including executing RPM scriptlets, without authentication. The vulnerability is a TOCTOU race condition on `transaction->cached_transaction_flags`  combined with a silent state-machine guard that discards illegal backward transitions while leaving corrupted flags in place. Three bugs exist in `src/pk-transaction.c`:\n1. Unconditional flag overwrite (line 4036): `InstallFiles()` writes caller-supplied flags to `transaction->cached_transaction_flags` without checking whether the transaction has already been  authorized/started. A second call blindly overwrites the flags even while the transaction is RUNNING.\n2. Silent state-transition rejection (lines 873–882): `pk_transaction_set_state()` silently discards backward state transitions (e.g. `RUNNING` → `WAITING_FOR_AUTH`) but the flag overwrite at step 1 already happened. The transaction continues running with corrupted flags.\n3. Late flag read at execution time (lines 2273–2277): The scheduler's idle callback reads cached_transaction_flags at dispatch time, not at authorization time. If flags were overwritten between authorization and execution, the backend sees the attacker's flags.","Type":"Description","Title":"PackageKit vulnerable to TOCTOU Race on Transaction Flags leads "}]}}}