CVE-2026-61898
Publication date 21 July 2026
Last updated 2 September 2026
Ubuntu priority
Description
The Ubuntu-specific language helper scripts (save-to-pam-env, update-langlist) shipped with accountsservice before 23.13.9-8ubuntu7 treat the user-controlled LANGUAGE entry in ~/.pam_environment as trusted input. The value is interpolated unescaped into a GNU sed replacement expression, allowing an attacker to inject a sed 'e' flag and arbitrary shell commands that execute with the privileges of the AccountsService helper process (real UID 0) via the SetLanguage D-Bus method.
Read the notes from the security team
Why is this CVE high priority?
Local privilege escalation issue
Status
| Package | Ubuntu Release | Status |
|---|---|---|
| accountsservice | 26.04 LTS resolute |
Fixed 23.13.9-8ubuntu5.2
|
| 24.04 LTS noble |
Fixed 23.13.9-2ubuntu6.1
|
|
| 22.04 LTS jammy |
Fixed 22.07.5-2ubuntu1.6
|
|
| 20.04 LTS focal |
Fixed 0.6.55-0ubuntu12~20.04.7+esm1
|
|
| 18.04 LTS bionic |
Fixed 0.6.45-1ubuntu1.3+esm2
|
|
| 16.04 LTS xenial |
Fixed 0.6.40-2ubuntu11.6+esm2
|
|
| 14.04 LTS trusty |
Fixed 0.6.35-0ubuntu7.3+esm4
|
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mdeslaur
This vulnerability is in the Ubuntu-specific 0009-language-tools.patch patch. The vulnerability does not affect the upstream accountsservice project.
Severity score breakdown
CVSS version: CVSS v3.0
Base score
7.8 · High
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
References
Related Ubuntu Security Notices (USN)
- USN-8580-1
- AccountsService vulnerabilities
- 21 July 2026
- USN-8580-2
- AccountsService vulnerabilities
- 21 July 2026