CVE-2026-61898CWE-78command-injection

CVE-2026-61898

High · published August 20, 2026

CVSS v3.1
7.8
EPSS
0%
Percentile
8.0
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

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.

The record
Technical detail
CVSS v3.1
7.8 · HIGH
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.00188 · 8.0th percentile
Weakness
CWE-78 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')
Published
2026-08-20T19:17Z
References (2)
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/accountsservice/+bug/2157985 · [email protected]https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-61898 · [email protected]
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 20 AUG 14:32Z
    accountsservice: shell injection via attacker-controlled ~/.pam_environment in Ubuntu language helper scripts
    cvelistv5