# CVE-2026-68488: Race condition in Plesk

> Local attackers can exploit a race condition to escalate privileges to root by manipulating symlinks during file ownership changes.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.9 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 10 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 10 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-f649-qj8x-m2x6

## What is CVE-2026-68488?

CVE-2026-68488 is a critical vulnerability in WebPros Plesk, published on 10 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition leading to insecure symlink following in Plesk causes local privilege escalation to root via arbitrary file/directory ownership takeover.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-68488?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-68488?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-68488 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-68488 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-68488 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-68488 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-68488 is a critical vulnerability in WebPros Plesk, published on 10 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-68488 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: WebPros Plesk. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-68488/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-68488/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-68488
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68488
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-68488

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-68488/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.