Samba-winbind: samba: pam_winbind mkhomedir chowns critical system paths without validation
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · Low · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
A flaw was found in samba's pam_winbind. When mkhomedir is enabled, pam_winbind chowns the target account's home directory without validating the path is not a critical system directory such as /. On affected systems, accounts with / as their home directory (a common default for system accounts) can have this triggered not only by root, but by a non-root user holding a narrow sudo delegation to run commands as that account, causing ownership of / to change and resulting in severe denial of service (SSH, sudo, and package-manager failures). The change does not grant write access to / (which ships with restrictive 0555 permissions on RHEL), so the impact is availability loss rather than further privilege escalation.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | — | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | — | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | — | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | — | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | — | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 VendorRed Hat Affected — Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 VendorRed Hat Affected — Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 VendorRed Hat Affected — Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 VendorRed Hat Affected — Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 VendorRed Hat Affected — Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-15779
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-6fmw-7w5g-3pf9
References
Other 5
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-15779
- RHBZ#2499991
- https://gitlab.com/samba-team/samba/-/blob/samba-4.19.4/nsswitch/pam_winbind.c
- https://gitlab.com/samba-team/samba/-/blob/samba-4.23.5/nsswitch/pam_winbind.c#L1622
- https://gitlab.com/samba-team/samba/-/blob/samba-4.24.3/nsswitch/pam_winbind.c#L1590
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Sources
- CVE-2026-15779 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-15779 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-6fmw-7w5g-3pf9 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-15779 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences