7.5highHigh
CVE-2026-16445
A flaw was found in dracut. A remote attacker on the adjacent network can exploit this vulnerability by providing specially crafted DHCP options, such as a malicious root-path, next-server, or bootfile name, to a system using dracut's NetworkManager-based initrd network module. These options are improperly handled and written into a temporary shell script without proper escaping, leading to command injection. This allows the attacker to achieve root code execution within the initramfs during system boot.
What the metrics mean
- It is reachable only from the same local or logical network.
- For an attacker who can reach it, exploitation depends on conditions outside the attacker's control.
- To exploit it, no account is needed.
- Beyond that, no action by a user is required.
Scoring
- CVSS
- 7.5 (v3.1)
- Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H- Weakness
- CWE-78
- Assigned by
- secalert@redhat.com
Dates
- Published
- 2026-07-21
- Last modified
- 2026-08-31
- Sources
- NVD
References
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:26534
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:40700
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:61252
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-16445
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2459963
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2503147
- https://github.com/dracutdevs/dracut/commit/e509c638e6