CVE-2026-6842 Nano: nano: local attacker can inject malicious .desktop launcher due to insecure directory permissions
Local attackers can inject malicious desktop launchers via insecure directory permissions in nano, potentially leading to code execution or data leakage.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-6842?
CVE-2026-6842 is a low-severity vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, published on 22 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
A flaw was found in nano. In environments with permissive umask settings, a local attacker can exploit incorrect directory permissions (0777 instead of 0700) for the `~/.local` directory. This allows the attacker to inject a malicious `.desktop` launcher, which could lead to unintended actions or information disclosure if the launcher is subsequently processed.
Weakness: CWE-732
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-6842?
How do I fix CVE-2026-6842?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-6842 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-6842 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-85557, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-6842, GHSA-ccfr-97mr-qq8g, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-6842.