Vulnerability record/PUBLISHED/Published Aug 7, 2026 10:33:33 UTC
CVE-2026-15816
A flaw was found in dracut. The die() error-handling function writes its message into a shell script under the initramfs emergency-hook directory without properly shell-quoting it. When the message contains data derived from the DHCP ROOT_PATH option, an attacker on the adjacent network who controls a rogue DHCP server can inject a command-substitution sequence that executes as root the next time dracut sources its emergency hook scripts during standard boot-failure handling.
Base score7.5/ 10
SeverityHighCVSS 3.1
Exploitability / impact
CVSS metric breakdown
Base severityHigh
Attack vectorAdjacentAV
Attack complexityHighAC
Privileges requiredNonePR
User interactionNoneUI
ScopeUnchangedS
Confidentiality impactHighC
Integrity impactHighI
Availability impactHighA
CVSS vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS communicates standardized severity and impact characteristics. It does not establish whether a system is exploitable in your specific environment.
Record context
CVE Numbering Authorityredhat
Last updatedNov 2, 2026 10:42:37 UTC
PublishedAug 7, 2026 10:33:33 UTC
ReservedJul 15, 2026 11:41:57 UTC
Credits
- This issue was discovered by Pavel Valena (Red Hat).