CVE-2026-11837

HIGH

Ansible-collection-ansible-posix: ansible.posix authorized_key: local privilege escalation via symlink-following chown

Title source: cna
STIX 2.1

Description

A local privilege escalation vulnerability was found in the ansible.posix authorized_key module. The module's keyfile() function uses os.chown() instead of os.lchown() and opens files without O_NOFOLLOW when managing SSH authorized keys. An unprivileged local user can pre-stage symbolic links in their ~/.ssh directory to redirect file ownership changes to arbitrary system paths when an operator runs the authorized_key task as root, leading to local privilege escalation.

References (2)

Core 2
Core References
Vdb Entry, X_Refsource_Redhat vdb-entry x_refsource_redhat
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-11837
Issue Tracking, X_Refsource_Redhat issue-tracking x_refsource_redhat
RHBZ#2487424
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2487424

Scores

CVSS v3 7.3
EPSS 0.0013
EPSS Percentile 2.6%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CISA SSVC

Vulnrichment
Exploitation none
Automatable no
Technical Impact total

Details

CWE
CWE-59
Status published
Products (5)
Red Hat/Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
Red Hat/Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
Red Hat/Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Red Hat/Red Hat OpenStack Platform 17.1
Red Hat/Red Hat OpenStack Platform 18.0
Published Jun 10, 2026
Tracked Since Jun 10, 2026