accountsservice: shell injection via attacker-controlled ~/.pam_environment in Ubuntu language helper scripts (CVE-2026-61898) | HOL Guard CVE

Unknown severity · Source severity not reportedCVE-2026-61898

accountsservice: shell injection via attacker-controlled ~/.pam_environment in Ubuntu language helper scripts

Answer in brief

CVE-2026-61898 records a Unknown severity vulnerability in accountsservice: shell injection via attacker-controlled ~/.pam_environment in Ubuntu 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 20, 2026Source checked Aug 20, 2026First seen by HOL Aug 20, 2026Material review Aug 20, 2026

Upstream Advisory

Key facts

Risk: Unknown severitySource severity not reported
Exploitation: Not marked as known exploited
Affected software: 1 mapped package or product
Fix availability: Available

Why this deserves its current priority

A CVSS score is not reported in the current record. 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 20, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
First seen by HOL
Aug 20, 2026

Sources and claim methodology

Upstream source description

The Ubuntu-specific language helper scripts (save-to-pam-env, update-langlist) shipped with accountsservice before 23.13.9-8ubuntu7 treat the user-controlled LANGUAGE entry in ~/.pam_environment as trusted input. The value is interpolated unescaped into a GNU sed replacement expression, allowing an attacker to inject a sed 'e' flag and arbitrary shell commands that execute with the privileges of the AccountsService helper process (real UID 0) via the SetLanguage D-Bus method.

Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.