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Fencer Vulns
high 8.8

CVE-2026-41651 json

PackageKit vulnerable to TOCTOU Race on Transaction Flags leads to arbitrary package installation as root

published 2026-04-22 6 mo ago modified 2026-07-15 3 mo ago also EUVD-2026-24742

cvss
8.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.5%
EPSS 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 46%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

PackageKit is a a D-Bus abstraction layer that allows the user to manage packages in a secure way using a cross-distro, cross-architecture API. PackageKit between and including versions 1.0.2 and 1.3.4 is vulnerable to a time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition on transaction flags that allows unprivileged users to install packages as root and thus leads to a local privilege escalation. This is patched in version 1.3.5.

A local unprivileged user can install arbitrary RPM packages as root, including executing RPM scriptlets, without authentication. The vulnerability is a TOCTOU race condition on `transaction->cached_transaction_flags` combined with a silent state-machine guard that discards illegal backward transitions while leaving corrupted flags in place. Three bugs exist in `src/pk-transaction.c`: 1. Unconditional flag overwrite (line 4036): `InstallFiles()` writes caller-supplied flags to `transaction->cached_transaction_flags` without checking whether the transaction has already been authorized/started. A second call blindly overwrites the flags even while the transaction is RUNNING. 2. Silent state-transition rejection (lines 873–882): `pk_transaction_set_state()` silently discards backward state transitions (e.g. `RUNNING` → `WAITING_FOR_AUTH`) but the flag overwrite at step 1 already happened. The transaction continues running with corrupted flags. 3. Late flag read at execution time (lines 2273–2277): The scheduler's idle callback reads cached_transaction_flags at dispatch time, not at authorization time. If flags were overwritten between authorization and execution, the backend sees the attacker's flags.

Patch / fix

  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 0:1.2.8-8.el10_2
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update Support 0:1.2.8-8.el10_0.1
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Extended Lifecycle Support 0:1.1.10-2.el7_9.1
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 0:1.1.12-8.el8_10
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support 0:1.1.12-6.el8_4.1
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On 0:1.1.12-6.el8_4.1
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support 0:1.1.12-6.el8_6.1
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Telecommunications Update Service 0:1.1.12-6.el8_6.1
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Update Services for SAP Solutions 0:1.1.12-6.el8_6.1
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update Service 0:1.1.12-6.el8_8.1
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Update Services for SAP Solutions 0:1.1.12-6.el8_8.1
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 0:1.2.6-2.el9_7, 0:1.2.6-2.el9_8
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Update Services for SAP Solutions 0:1.2.4-2.el9_0.1
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Update Services for SAP Solutions 0:1.2.4-2.el9_2.1
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 Extended Update Support 0:1.2.6-1.el9_4.1
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support 0:1.2.6-1.el9_6.1
  • packagekit Debian 12 1.2.6-5+deb12u1
  • packagekit Debian 13 1.3.1-1+deb13u1
  • packagekit Debian 14 1.3.5-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-41651

  • packagekit Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 1.2.5-2ubuntu3.1
  • packagekit Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 1.2.8-2ubuntu1.5
  • packagekit Ubuntu 25.10 1.3.1-1ubuntu1.1
  • packagekit Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 1.3.4-3ubuntu1
  • packagekit Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS 0.8.17-4ubuntu6~gcc5.4ubuntu1.5+esm1
  • packagekit Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS 1.1.9-1ubuntu2.18.04.6+esm1
  • packagekit Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS 1.1.13-2ubuntu1.1+esm1

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2026-41651

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • PackageKit RHEL 9 1.2.6-2.el9_8
  • PackageKit-glib RHEL 9 1.2.6-2.el9_8
  • PackageKit-gtk3-module RHEL 9 1.2.6-2.el9_8
  • PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin RHEL 9 1.2.6-2.el9_8
  • PackageKit-command-not-found RHEL 9 1.2.6-2.el9_8
  • PackageKit RHEL 10.2 1.2.8-8.el10_2
  • PackageKit-glib RHEL 10.2 1.2.8-8.el10_2
  • PackageKit-gtk3-module RHEL 10.2 1.2.8-8.el10_2

red hat advisories RHSA-2026:22146RHSA-2026:19601RHSA-2026:19454RHSA-2026:19354RHSA-2026:19141RHSA-2026:18036

  • PackageKit openSUSE Tumbleweed 1.3.5-1.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:10629-1

  • PackageKit AlmaLinux 10 1.2.8-8.el10_2
  • PackageKit-glib AlmaLinux 10 1.2.8-8.el10_2
  • PackageKit-gtk3-module AlmaLinux 10 1.2.8-8.el10_2
  • PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin AlmaLinux 10 1.2.8-8.el10_2
  • PackageKit-command-not-found AlmaLinux 10 1.2.8-8.el10_2
  • PackageKit AlmaLinux 9 1.2.6-2.el9_8
  • PackageKit-glib AlmaLinux 9 1.2.6-2.el9_8
  • PackageKit-gtk3-module AlmaLinux 9 1.2.6-2.el9_8

almalinux advisories ALSA-2026:19141ALSA-2026:19354ALSA-2026:11504ALSA-2026:11635

  • PackageKit Rocky Linux 10 1.2.8-8.el10
  • PackageKit Rocky Linux 9 1.2.6-2.el9_7
  • PackageKit Rocky Linux 8 1.1.12-8.el8_10

rocky linux advisories RLSA-2026:19141RLSA-2026:19354RLSA-2026:11635RLSA-2026:11504

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2026-41651 updated cvss 8.8

PackageKit: race condition vulnerability leads to arbitrary package installation as root

  • Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder EUS (v.9.4) PackageKit-debuginfo 1.2.6-1.el9_4.1, PackageKit-glib-devel 1.2.6-1.el9_4.1, PackageKit-debugsource 1.2.6-1.el9_4.1, PackageKit-glib-debuginfo 1.2.6-1.el9_4.1, PackageKit-gtk3-module-debuginfo 1.2.6-1.el9_4.1, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin-debuginfo 1.2.6-1.el9_4.1, +1 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:19454
  • Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder EUS (v.9.6) PackageKit-debuginfo 1.2.6-1.el9_6.1, PackageKit-glib-devel 1.2.6-1.el9_6.1, PackageKit-debugsource 1.2.6-1.el9_6.1, PackageKit-glib-debuginfo 1.2.6-1.el9_6.1, PackageKit-gtk3-module-debuginfo 1.2.6-1.el9_6.1, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin-debuginfo 1.2.6-1.el9_6.1, +1 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18031
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) PackageKit 1.1.12-8.el8_10, PackageKit-cron 1.1.12-8.el8_10, PackageKit-glib 1.1.12-8.el8_10, PackageKit-gtk3-module 1.1.12-8.el8_10, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin 1.1.12-8.el8_10, PackageKit-command-not-found 1.1.12-8.el8_10
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:11635
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) PackageKit 1.2.6-2.el9_7, PackageKit 1.2.6-2.el9_8, PackageKit-glib 1.2.6-2.el9_7, PackageKit-glib 1.2.6-2.el9_8, PackageKit-gtk3-module 1.2.6-2.el9_7, PackageKit-gtk3-module 1.2.6-2.el9_8, +4 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:11504
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) PackageKit 1.2.8-8.el10_2, PackageKit-glib 1.2.8-8.el10_2, PackageKit-gtk3-module 1.2.8-8.el10_2, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin 1.2.8-8.el10_2, PackageKit-command-not-found 1.2.8-8.el10_2
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:19141
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream AUS (v.8.4) PackageKit 1.1.12-6.el8_4.1, PackageKit-cron 1.1.12-6.el8_4.1, PackageKit-glib 1.1.12-6.el8_4.1, PackageKit-gtk3-module 1.1.12-6.el8_4.1, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin 1.1.12-6.el8_4.1, PackageKit-command-not-found 1.1.12-6.el8_4.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:17558
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream AUS (v.8.6) PackageKit 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1, PackageKit-cron 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1, PackageKit-glib 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1, PackageKit-gtk3-module 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1, PackageKit-command-not-found 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1 Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v.8.6) PackageKit 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1, PackageKit-cron 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1, PackageKit-glib 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1, PackageKit-gtk3-module 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1, PackageKit-command-not-found 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:17561
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v.8.8) PackageKit 1.1.12-6.el8_8.1, PackageKit-cron 1.1.12-6.el8_8.1, PackageKit-glib 1.1.12-6.el8_8.1, PackageKit-gtk3-module 1.1.12-6.el8_8.1, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin 1.1.12-6.el8_8.1, PackageKit-command-not-found 1.1.12-6.el8_8.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:17560
show 14 more
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v.9.0) PackageKit 1.2.4-2.el9_0.1, PackageKit-glib 1.2.4-2.el9_0.1, PackageKit-gtk3-module 1.2.4-2.el9_0.1, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin 1.2.4-2.el9_0.1, PackageKit-command-not-found 1.2.4-2.el9_0.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18024
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v.9.2) PackageKit 1.2.4-2.el9_2.1, PackageKit-glib 1.2.4-2.el9_2.1, PackageKit-gtk3-module 1.2.4-2.el9_2.1, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin 1.2.4-2.el9_2.1, PackageKit-command-not-found 1.2.4-2.el9_2.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18036
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 10.0) PackageKit 1.2.8-8.el10_0.1, PackageKit-glib 1.2.8-8.el10_0.1, PackageKit-gtk3-module 1.2.8-8.el10_0.1, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin 1.2.8-8.el10_0.1, PackageKit-command-not-found 1.2.8-8.el10_0.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:19601
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v.9.4) PackageKit 1.2.6-1.el9_4.1, PackageKit-glib 1.2.6-1.el9_4.1, PackageKit-gtk3-module 1.2.6-1.el9_4.1, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin 1.2.6-1.el9_4.1, PackageKit-command-not-found 1.2.6-1.el9_4.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:19454
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v.9.6) PackageKit 1.2.6-1.el9_6.1, PackageKit-glib 1.2.6-1.el9_6.1, PackageKit-gtk3-module 1.2.6-1.el9_6.1, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin 1.2.6-1.el9_6.1, PackageKit-command-not-found 1.2.6-1.el9_6.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18031
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS EXTENSION (v.8.4) PackageKit 1.1.12-6.el8_4.1, PackageKit-cron 1.1.12-6.el8_4.1, PackageKit-glib 1.1.12-6.el8_4.1, PackageKit-gtk3-module 1.1.12-6.el8_4.1, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin 1.1.12-6.el8_4.1, PackageKit-command-not-found 1.1.12-6.el8_4.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:17558
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream TUS (v.8.6) PackageKit 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1, PackageKit-cron 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1, PackageKit-glib 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1, PackageKit-gtk3-module 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1, PackageKit-command-not-found 1.1.12-6.el8_6.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:17561
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream TUS (v.8.8) PackageKit 1.1.12-6.el8_8.1, PackageKit-cron 1.1.12-6.el8_8.1, PackageKit-glib 1.1.12-6.el8_8.1, PackageKit-gtk3-module 1.1.12-6.el8_8.1, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin 1.1.12-6.el8_8.1, PackageKit-command-not-found 1.1.12-6.el8_8.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:17560
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) PackageKit-debuginfo 1.2.6-2.el9_7, PackageKit-debuginfo 1.2.6-2.el9_8, PackageKit-glib-devel 1.2.6-2.el9_7, PackageKit-glib-devel 1.2.6-2.el9_8, PackageKit-debugsource 1.2.6-2.el9_7, PackageKit-debugsource 1.2.6-2.el9_8, +8 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:11504
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) PackageKit-debuginfo 1.2.8-8.el10_2, PackageKit-glib-devel 1.2.8-8.el10_2, PackageKit-debugsource 1.2.8-8.el10_2, PackageKit-glib-debuginfo 1.2.8-8.el10_2, PackageKit-gtk3-module-debuginfo 1.2.8-8.el10_2, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin-debuginfo 1.2.8-8.el10_2, +1 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:19141
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder EUS (v. 10.0) PackageKit-debuginfo 1.2.8-8.el10_0.1, PackageKit-glib-devel 1.2.8-8.el10_0.1, PackageKit-debugsource 1.2.8-8.el10_0.1, PackageKit-glib-debuginfo 1.2.8-8.el10_0.1, PackageKit-gtk3-module-debuginfo 1.2.8-8.el10_0.1, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin-debuginfo 1.2.8-8.el10_0.1, +1 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:19601
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux CRB (v. 8) PackageKit 1.1.12-8.el8_10
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:11635
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7 ELS) PackageKit 1.1.10-2.el7_9.1, PackageKit-yum 1.1.10-2.el7_9.1, PackageKit-glib 1.1.10-2.el7_9.1, PackageKit-gtk3-module 1.1.10-2.el7_9.1, PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin 1.1.10-2.el7_9.1, PackageKit-command-not-found 1.1.10-2.el7_9.1 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7 ELS) PackageKit 1.1.10-2.el7_9.1, PackageKit-cron 1.1.10-2.el7_9.1, PackageKit-yum-plugin 1.1.10-2.el7_9.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:22146
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 PackageKit, PackageKit-qt, PackageKit-yum, PackageKit-cron, PackageKit-glib, PackageKit-gtk-module, +6 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 compat-libpackagekit-glib2-16
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
6 mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.55% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 46% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/PackageKit/PackageKit/security/advisories/GHSA-f55j-vvr9-69xv referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • github.security.telekom.com https://github.security.telekom.com/2026/04/pack2theroot-linux-local-privilege-escalation.html referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 8.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
CISA ADP 3.1 8.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

  • PackageKit PackageKit
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update Support
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Extended Lifecycle Support
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Telecommunications Update Service
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Update Services for SAP Solutions
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update Service
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Update Services for SAP Solutions
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Update Services for SAP Solutions
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Update Services for SAP Solutions
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 Extended Update Support
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-367 Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

CPEs and fixed versions use Anchore's correction of NVD's data: Added CPE configurations because not yet analyzed by NVD.