CVE-2026-41651
CVE-2026-41651 — PackageKit vulnerable to TOCTOU Race on Transaction Flags leads to arbitrary package installation as root
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. A 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`: 1. Unconditional flag overwrite (line 4036): `InstallFiles()` writes…
Published Updated Sources: cvelistV5, GitHub_M
Triage
Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the scoring sources call it.
Exploitation
Exploit code
public exploit, none observed
EPSS
0%
chance of exploitation in 30 days
CVSS base
8.8
HIGH
CISA SSVC assessment
Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses · SSVC 2.0.3. A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.
Exploitation
None
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script all four kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component
Affected scope
The catalog records vendors and products as separate lists, not pairs, so which product belongs to which vendor is not something this page can say.
Vendors (2)
Products (19)
Every base score collected
Sources score independently and disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.
| Score | Version | Severity | Expl. | Impact | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.8 | CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | — | — | cvelistV5 |
Weakness & attack patterns
- CWE-367
Public exploit
Capability, not use: code existing is a different claim from anyone running it.
Indexed by
Detection
Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not rules we have tested.
- Search application, proxy, and WAF logs for requests touching /pk-transaction.c.
References
22 on the record
- github.com/PackageKit/PackageKit/security/advisories/GHSA-f55j-vvr9-69xv
x_refsource_CONFIRM
- github.com/PackageKit/PackageKit/blob/04057883189efa225a7c785591aa87cb299782f8/src/pk-transaction.c#L2273-L2277
x_refsource_MISC
- github.com/PackageKit/PackageKit/blob/04057883189efa225a7c785591aa87cb299782f8/src/pk-transaction.c#L4036
x_refsource_MISC
- github.com/PackageKit/PackageKit/blob/04057883189efa225a7c785591aa87cb299782f8/src/pk-transaction.c#L873-L882
x_refsource_MISC
- github.security.telekom.com/2026/04/pack2theroot-linux-local-privilege-escalation.html
x_refsource_MISC
- www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/04/22/6
reference
- access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-41651
vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2460604
issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT
Elsewhere on this site
- packagekitevery CVE for this vendor
- redhatevery CVE for this vendor
- CWE-367other pages naming this weakness
Not in any source we poll
Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.
- No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
- No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
- No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.