# CVE-2026-91205: Cockpit-files: cockpit-files: local attacker can hijack file ownership via symlink race

Status: published. Published: 2026-09-18. Updated: 2026-11-06.

A flaw was found in cockpit-files. A local unprivileged attacker can exploit a race condition during directory creation with owner assignment. By controlling a writable parent directory, the attacker can replace a newly created directory with a symbolic link (symlink) before the ownership change operation (chown) is applied. This allows the attacker to redirect the ownership change to an arbitrary file, potentially leading to information disclosure or unauthorized modification of sensitive files.

## Remediation

- workaround: Avoid using the privileged owner-assignment directory-creation flow in Cockpit Files inside directories that are writable by untrusted local users. Restrict write permissions on shared parent directories, and where directories must remain shared and writable, apply the sticky bit so users cannot replace directory entries they do not own. Creating directories without an owner assignment does not trigger the vulnerable privileged chown path and can be used where the owner-setting feature is not required. Updated packages that address this flaw are being delivered for the actively maintained releases. (source: CNA: redhat)

## Affected products and versions

- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 (cockpit-files): ≥ 0:36.1-1.el10_2; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 (cockpit-files): ≥ 0:36.1-1.el9_8; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat

## Severity and prioritization

- CVSS 3.1: 6 (medium); CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N; source: CNA: redhat

- CISA KEV: No listing in collected sources

- EPSS: 0.11% as of 2026-11-05; percentile 1.31%

- SSVC: exploitation none; automatable no; technical impact total; source ADP: CISA-ADP

- Weaknesses: CWE-363

## Exploit evidence

No exploit evidence in collected sources. This is not proof of no exploitation.

## References

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:84595 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:95570 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-91205 (CNA: redhat; vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2466442 (CNA: redhat; issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT)

## Provenance

- CNA: redhat: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-91205; retrieved 2026-11-06; source updated 2026-11-06

- FIRST EPSS: https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-91205; retrieved 2026-11-06; source updated Not reported

Revision: 50b83b20f291006cc4b657eefa4d44a826a4f460f81dcaaca84a8051ae8b1081

Canonical: https://y2.dev/cve/CVE-2026-91205

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