CVE-2026-84838 Rpm: command injection in rpmuncompress via unescaped filenames passed to popen()
Local attackers can execute arbitrary commands via crafted archive filenames in rpmuncompress, requiring user interaction to trigger.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-84838?
CVE-2026-84838 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, published on 2 Sep 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 rpmuncompress. This command injection vulnerability allows a local attacker to execute arbitrary commands. This occurs when rpmuncompress processes a specially crafted archive filename containing shell metacharacters, which are not properly escaped before being passed to shell command strings. Successful exploitation requires user interaction, where a user or automated workflow invokes rpmuncompress on the malicious file, leading to high impact on the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data accessible to the invoking user.
Weakness: CWE-78
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-84838?
How do I fix CVE-2026-84838?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, and pass arguments to programs as a list instead of through a shell. More about Command injection.
Is CVE-2026-84838 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-84838 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-99372, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-84838, ECHO-f52f-43fd-e847, GHSA-h54x-hjr5-ww2x, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-84838.