Policycoreutils: policycoreutils: toctou race condition in fixfiles allows arbitrary selinux label manipulation
Priority LOW 19CWE-367Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Attack complexity
- High
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · High · None
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 1 fixed, 7 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
A TOCTOU (Time-of-Check-Time-of-Use) race condition vulnerability was found in the fixfiles script in policycoreutils. When running fixfiles relabel or fixfiles restore, the script used find and chcon commands to locate and relabel unlabeled files under /tmp and other directories. A local attacker could exploit a race window between the file discovery and the label change operation by swapping directory components with symlinks, causing chcon to follow the symlink and modify SELinux labels on arbitrary system files. This could undermine SELinux mandatory access control protections on critical files such as /etc/shadow.
Why it matters now
Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00106 1st percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Red Hat: 1 advisoryRed Hat: 1 fixed, 7 without a fix
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 Hardened Images | — | 3.11-2.2.hum1 | Patch available | CNA |
| 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 | Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | — | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| Red Hat | Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | — | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| Red Hat | Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | — | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- Red Hat Hardened Images VendorRed Hat Affected — Fixed in 3.11-2.2.hum1 Patch available 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
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 VendorRed Hat Affected — Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 VendorRed Hat Affected — Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 VendorRed Hat Affected — Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE names CNA · 8
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:/a:redhat:hummingbird:1 | 1 | — | Red Hat |
| cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:10 | 10 | — | Red Hat |
| cpe:/o:redhat:rhel_els:6 | 6 | — | Red Hat |
| cpe:/o:redhat:rhel_els:7 | 7 | — | Red Hat |
| cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:8 | 8 | — | Red Hat |
| cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:9 | 9 | — | Red Hat |
| cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:4 | 4 | — | Red Hat |
| cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:5 | 5 | — | Red Hat |
- cpe:/a:redhat:hummingbird:1 Versions 1 — ·Red Hat
- cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:10 Versions 10 — ·Red Hat
- cpe:/o:redhat:rhel_els:6 Versions 6 — ·Red Hat
- cpe:/o:redhat:rhel_els:7 Versions 7 — ·Red Hat
- cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:8 Versions 8 — ·Red Hat
- cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:9 Versions 9 — ·Red Hat
- cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:4 Versions 4 — ·Red Hat
- cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:5 Versions 5 — ·Red Hat
Remediation
Red Hat 1 advisory
- RHSA-2026:51861 Released 2026-08-07 · Red Hat rating ModerateRed Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update
- Red Hat Hardened Images policycoreutils-3.11-2.2.hum1@aarch64, policycoreutils-3.11-2.2.hum1@src, policycoreutils-3.11-2.2.hum1@x86_64 +16
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: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Hardened Images | Fixed | RHSA-2026:51861 |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-19079
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-8hc6-8f5m-vmq3
- 2026-11-05 Affected versions changed · CNA
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
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Sources
- CVE-2026-19079 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-19079 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-8hc6-8f5m-vmq3 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-19079 · 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