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
Important severity
Important
See what this means
CVSS v3 Base Score
7.8
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