ShellCodeX vulnerability brief
HIGH
Received
CVE-2026-61897
An Ubuntu-specific patch to AccountsService before 23.13.9-8ubuntu7 only partially drops privileges before launching language helper scripts. It changes the effective UID/GID to the target user but leaves the real UID as 0 (root). A shell spawned by a helper script inherits ruid=0 and may reset its effective UID to root, enabling local privilege escalation.
Published 20 Aug 2026, 15:17 UTC
Last modified 20 Aug 2026, 15:17 UTC
01
Attack profile
The conditions required to exploit this vulnerability and its potential impact.
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
02
Affected products
Product applicability statements supplied with the NVD record.
NVD has not published structured affected-product data for this record.
03
Weakness classification
CWE categories help security teams group the underlying software weakness.
04
Source references
External advisories, patches and technical reports attached to this CVE record.