High · CVSS 7.8CVE-2026-61897

accountsservice: incomplete privilege drop when running Ubuntu-specific language helper scriptsCVE-2026-61897

Answer in brief

CVE-2026-61897 records a High severity (CVSS 7.8) vulnerability in accountsservice: incomplete privilege drop when running Ubuntu-specific language helper scripts. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps Canonical/accountsservice (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Analysis pending evidence review

HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.

Published Aug 20, 2026Updated Aug 28, 2026Source checked Oct 4, 2026First seen by HOL Aug 20, 2026Material review Aug 28, 2026

Upstream Advisory

Key facts

Risk: High · CVSS 7.8
Exploitation: Not marked as known exploited
Affected software: 1 mapped package or product
Fix availability: Available

Why this deserves its current priority

CVSS is 7.8. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.

Analysis status

Analysis pending evidence review

Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.

Affected scope and exposure questions

The current feed maps Canonical/accountsservice (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Mapped affected packages and fixed versions
Package	Affected range	Fixed version
Canonical/accountsservicegeneric	>=22.07.5-2ubuntu1 <22.07.5-2ubuntu1.6 \|\| >=23.13.9-2ubuntu6 <23.13.9-2ubuntu6.1 \|\| >=23.13.9-8ubuntu5 <23.13.9-8ubuntu5.2 \|\| >=23.13.9-8ubuntu6 <23.13.9-8ubuntu7	22.07.5-2ubuntu1.6, 23.13.9-2ubuntu6.1, 23.13.9-8ubuntu5.2, 23.13.9-8ubuntu7

Recommended response

Check inventory. Check lockfiles and deployed manifests for Canonical/accountsservice.
Review the reported fix. Update Canonical/accountsservice to 22.07.5-2ubuntu1.6 if you use the affected versions. Test the change in a non-production environment first.

Evidence timeline and material changes

Published upstream
Aug 20, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
Source modified
Aug 28, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
First seen by HOL
Aug 20, 2026

Sources and claim methodology

Upstream source description

An Ubuntu-specific patch to AccountsService before 23.13.9-8ubuntu7 only partially drops privileges before launching language helper scripts. It changes the effective UID/GID to the target user but leaves the real UID as 0 (root). A shell spawned by a helper script inherits ruid=0 and may reset its effective UID to root, enabling local privilege escalation.

Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.