CVE-2026-110331 in Red Hat
Summary
by MITRE • 11/13/2026
A flaw was found in abrt. The completeness check introduced to mitigate CVE-2026-54228 and CVE-2026-54229 only verifies that a dump directory contains a "count" element, which an unprivileged user can create. This allows a local attacker to bypass the guard and again poison elements in, or seize ownership of, dump directories while privileged ABRT handlers are processing them. Related Problems2 mutating methods remain ungated by the same check.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/13/2026
The vulnerability identified within the abrt (Automatic Bug Reporting Tool) framework represents a critical failure in input validation and access control mechanisms designed to prevent privilege escalation through crash dump manipulation. The core issue stems from an incomplete integrity verification process implemented as part of mitigations for CVE-2026-54228 and CVE-2026-54229. These previous mitigations attempted to secure the processing pipeline by introducing a completeness check that verifies the presence of a specific metadata element, namely the count field, within crash dump directories. However, this verification logic is fundamentally flawed because it fails to enforce strict ownership or integrity constraints on the directory structure itself. Consequently, an unprivileged local user can trivially create and populate these directories with the required elements, effectively bypassing the intended security guardrails without possessing elevated privileges.
From a technical perspective, the flaw allows for a classic race condition combined with path traversal logic errors. When privileged ABRT handlers are initiated to process crash dumps, they assume that the directory structure is immutable or strictly controlled by the system after initial creation. The attacker exploits this assumption by creating directories and populating them with valid-looking metadata before the handler processes them. Because the completeness check only looks for the existence of specific files like count rather than verifying who owns those files or whether their contents have been tampered with post-creation, the handler proceeds to process data that was injected by an untrusted user. This leads to two primary attack vectors: poisoning elements within the dump directory and seizing ownership of the directories themselves. By manipulating these elements, a local attacker can influence how the system interprets crash data, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution or denial of service conditions when the privileged handler processes the corrupted input.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for any environment relying on abrt for automated bug reporting and system stability monitoring. An unprivileged user with access to the local shell can escalate privileges by tricking a root-level ABRT process into executing commands or modifying files based on attacker-controlled data contained within the crash dumps. This effectively undermines the principle of least privilege, allowing low-impact users to achieve high-impact outcomes such as full system compromise. The existence of related mutating methods that remain ungated further exacerbates the risk, indicating a systemic design flaw where multiple entry points for manipulation exist without corresponding validation checks. This suggests that fixing only one aspect of the vulnerability is insufficient and that a comprehensive review of all data mutation paths within the abrt workflow is required to ensure security integrity.
In terms of industry standards classification, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-20 Improper Input Validation, as the system fails to adequately validate metadata before processing it in a privileged context. It also relates closely to CWE-732 Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource, since unprivileged users are able to create and modify directories that should be restricted or strictly monitored by elevated processes. From an offensive security perspective, this behavior maps directly to the ATT&CK technique T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter, where attackers use system utilities like abrt to execute arbitrary commands under higher privilege levels. Additionally, it reflects aspects of T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation, leveraging misconfigured permissions on critical resources to gain unauthorized access.
To mitigate this vulnerability, immediate remediation steps should focus on hardening the directory creation and validation logic within abrt. Developers must ensure that crash dump directories are created with restrictive permissions that prevent unprivileged users from modifying them after initial setup or ownership transfer is attempted by privileged processes. Implementing strict file integrity checks using cryptographic hashes rather than simple existence checks for metadata elements would also help detect tampering. Furthermore, all mutating methods within the abrt framework should be audited and gated behind similar comprehensive validation logic to prevent bypasses through alternative pathways. System administrators can apply temporary workarounds by restricting write access to crash dump directories or disabling automatic processing of unverified dumps until a patched version is available. Regular updates to the abrt package are essential, as vendors will likely release patches that address these specific input validation gaps and enforce stricter ownership controls on critical resources involved in the bug reporting pipeline.