VulnerabilityPublished 27 Sep 2026Updated 6 Nov 2026

CVE-2026-96279: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 · Improper Link Resolution Before File Access

Affects Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10Source CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium.

Data as of 10 Nov 2026, 11:37 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

Thin evidence

One scorer or none

CVSS scores by source
CNA (redhat)	CVSS 3.1	6.5

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 37% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

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

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 27 Sep 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 10 Nov 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10flatpak	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7flatpak	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8flatpak	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9flatpak	Affected–	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Red Hat advises only installing Flatpak applications from trusted OCI registries to mitigate this vulnerability. Flatpak remotes using the default OSTree transport are not affected.

Description

CVE-2026-96279 is a vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 involving improper link resolution during OCI archive extraction by Flatpak. A malicious OCI registry can create hardlinks to arbitrary host files in the extraction directory, potentially exposing sensitive files like /etc/shadow during system-wide installs. The flaw requires user interaction and does not allow modification or disruption of files, only read access. The vulnerability affects Flatpak installations from OCI remotes but not those using the default OSTree transport.

Impact

The vulnerability allows an attacker to disclose arbitrary host file contents by causing hardlinks to sensitive files to appear in the Flatpak extraction directory. On system-wide installs running as root, this includes highly sensitive files such as /etc/shadow. The flaw does not allow modification or disruption of files, only read access. Exploitation requires user interaction and network access but no privileges. This can lead to unauthorized disclosure of confidential information.

Summary

This vulnerability arises from Flatpak's OCI archive extraction process, which rebases archive entry pathnames but fails to rebase hardlink targets. An attacker controlling a malicious OCI registry can craft an archive with an absolute hardlink target (e.g., /etc/shadow), causing libarchive to hardlink that host file into the extraction directory. For system-wide installs running as root, this exposes sensitive root-owned files to local users via the deployed Flatpak application. The flaw is a read-only information disclosure with a CVSS 3.1 score of 6.5 (medium severity). Exploitation requires network access and user interaction but no privileges. Red Hat's advisory recommends installing applications only from trusted OCI registries. Flatpak remotes using OSTree transport are not affected.

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 6 Nov 2026, 11:55 UTC

Technical details

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