CVE-2026-96275 Flatpak: flatpak: arbitrary write access as root via extra-data extraction
A malicious Flatpak repository can write arbitrary files as root via path traversal in extra-data extraction, enabling privilege escalation on Linux systems.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-96275?
CVE-2026-96275 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, published on 23 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
A malicious or compromised Flatpak repository can write attacker-controlled content to arbitrary locations on the host filesystem via extract_extra_data(). On system installs, the write happens as root. Two issues combine: `files/extra` is resolved via path operations that follow symlinks, and blob names from `xa.extra-data-sources` are not sanitized against `..` traversal.
Weakness: CWE-22
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-96275?
How do I fix CVE-2026-96275?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2026-96275 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-96275 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as CLSA-2026-1792176855, CLSA-2026-1792190438, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-96275, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-96275.