Red Hat Enterprise Linux System Helper RemoveLocalRef privileges management

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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Current Exploit Price (≈)
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CTI Interest Score
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5.7$5k-$25k1.11

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as problematic has been identified in Red Hat Enterprise Linux. This affects the function RemoveLocalRef of the component System Helper. Executing a manipulation can lead to privileges management. This vulnerability appears as CVE-2026-96281. The attack requires local access. There is no available exploit.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic was found in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (unknown version). This vulnerability affects the function RemoveLocalRef of the component System Helper. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a privileges management vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-269. The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

On a multi-user system, a user with an active local login session could downgrade a system-wide Flatpak app to an older version by removing the app's remote ref via the unprivileged system-helper RemoveLocalRef method, causing the anti-downgrade check to fail to find a reference date. A malicious local user could use this to expose other users of the same system to an app version with unfixed vulnerabilities.

The advisory is shared for download at access.redhat.com. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-96281 since 09/22/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack needs to be approached locally. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $5k-$25k (estimation calculated on 09/28/2026). The MITRE ATT&CK project declares the attack technique as T1068.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at EUVD (EUVD-2026-88027). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Productinfo

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Vendor

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Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.7
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.7

VulDB Base Score: 5.3
VulDB Temp Score: 5.3
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CNA Base Score: 6.2
CNA Vector (redhat): 🔒

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Privileges management
CWE: CWE-269 / CWE-266
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Yes
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

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Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: no mitigation known
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Timelineinfo

09/22/2026 CVE reserved
09/27/2026 +5 days Advisory disclosed
09/27/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/28/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: redhat.com

Advisory: access.redhat.com
Status: Not defined

CVE: CVE-2026-96281 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-96281
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-410968
EUVD: 🔒

Entryinfo

Created: 09/27/2026 23:27
Updated: 09/28/2026 00:42
Changes: 09/27/2026 23:27 (62), 09/28/2026 00:42 (1)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

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