CVE-2026-90616
Public on 2026-09-12
Modified on 2026-09-15
Description
In Flatpak before 1.18.1, a malicious sandboxed app can obtain arbitrary read and write access to files on the host, which can be escalated to arbitrary code execution on the host, a different vulnerability than CVE-2026-76925. Flatpak creates a few app data directories (e.g., /var/cache, /var/data, /var/config, and /var/tmp) in every sandbox on every app launch where, in some cases, components of the path are attacker-controlled. Missing symlink protection can redirect the directories. Some of these directories are bind-mounted by Flatpak by passing the path (e.g., /home/user/.var/app/APP_ID/cache/tmp), which contains attacker-controlled directories (tmp) to bwrap --bind SRC DST. bwrap passes the path on to the kernel, which then follows symlinks. A malicious symlink can point to arbitrary locations on the host and it will become mounted inside the sandbox.
Severity
See what this means
CVSS v3 Base Score
See breakdown
Affected Packages
| Platform | Package | Release Date | Advisory | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux 2 - Core | flatpak | Pending Fix | ||
| Amazon Linux 2023 | flatpak | Pending Fix | ||
| Amazon Linux 2027 Preview | flatpak | Not Affected | ||
| Amazon Linux 2023 | flatpak-builder | Not Affected | ||
| Amazon Linux 2027 Preview | flatpak-builder | Not Affected |
CVSS Scores
| Score Type | Score | Vector | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux | CVSSv3 | 7.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H |