# CVE-2026-79655: Path traversal in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10

> A local attacker can exploit path traversal in sos clean to write arbitrary files as root, leading to privilege escalation.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 25 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 6 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-98211, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-79655, GHSA-jhqm-m4j3-wqq2, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-79655

## What is CVE-2026-79655?

CVE-2026-79655 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, published on 25 Aug 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

A flaw was found in sos clean, a utility within the sos package. This vulnerability allows a local attacker to perform arbitrary file creation or overwrite. By crafting a malicious tar archive, an attacker can exploit a path traversal issue during tar extraction, where symlink and hardlink targets are not properly validated. This enables the attacker to write files to arbitrary locations on the system with the privileges of the sos clean process, which often runs as root.

Weakness: CWE-59 (Improper Link Resolution Before File Access)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-79655?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-79655?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-79655 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-79655 exists.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-79655 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-79655 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, published on 25 Aug 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-79655 exists.

Affected product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10. 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-2026-79655/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-79655/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-79655
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-79655
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-79655

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-79655/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.