CVE-2026-86805
What it is
A time-of-check to time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition in the dynamic loader (ld.so) of the GNU C Library (glibc) versions 2.14 through 2.44 allows a local attacker to escalate privileges. When expanding $ORIGIN in DT_RPATH for setuid/setgid (AT_SECURE) programs, glibc validates the lexically normalized search path against the trusted directories but then opens the raw, un-normalized path. On systems where the Linux fs.protected_hardlinks sysctl is disabled, a local attacker who hard-links such a program into an attacker-controlled directory and wins a race to replace an intermediate path component with a symbolic link can direct the loader outside the trusted directory, causing it to load an attacker-controlled shared object and execute arbitrary code with the elevated privileges of the program. Exploitation requires an installed setuid or setgid binary whose DT_RPATH uses $ORIGIN followed by ".." traversal that normalizes into a trusted directory, and the ability to hard-link that binary and win the race by swapping a path component for a symbolic link. Major Linux-based OS distributions ship with fs.protected_hardlinks enabled by default and mitigate the vulnerability.
At a glance
- Exploitability
- Can be exploited locally on the machine with a low-privilege account, but needs a user to act. High risk of data exposure, data tampering.
- Exploit odds
- 0.1% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).
- Fix
- No patch or advisory is linked yet. Look at mitigations or restrict exposure.
Timeline
- ReservedThe CVE id was reserved by its CNA
- PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
- Last updatedMost recent change to the record
Why it ranks here
- Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
- Exploit odds: 0.1% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
- Severity: 6.3 MEDIUM (CVSS).
- Fix: none linked yet, which raises it.
Details
- Published
- Last modified
- Exploit probability
- 0.1% · EPSS, next 30 days
- Weakness
- CWE-367
- Record status
- Awaiting Analysis
Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 6.3
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- Low
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
Is it in your code?
Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.
Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2026-86805.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2026-86805. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.
