Answer in brief
CVE-2026-78422 records a Unknown severity vulnerability in zbus_polkit: polkit authorization bypass via PID reuse due to incorrect D-Bus type for the subject UID. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps z-galaxy/zbus_polkit (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
Analysis pending evidence review
HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.
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.
The current feed maps z-galaxy/zbus_polkit (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
| Package | Affected range | Fixed version |
|---|---|---|
| z-galaxy/zbus_polkitgeneric | >=0 <5.1.0 | 5.1.0 |
Published upstream
Aug 31, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:recordSource modified
Aug 31, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:recordFirst seen by HOL
Aug 31, 2026
Subject::new_for_owner() in the zbus_polkit crate encodes the uid entry of a unix-process polkit subject as an unsigned 32-bit integer (D-Bus type u), whereas the org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1.Authority interface specifies a signed 32-bit integer (D-Bus type i). Because of this type mismatch, polkit silently discards the caller-supplied UID and instead determines the subject's owner itself by looking up the PID in /proc, a lookup that is inherently subject to a time-of-check/time-of-use race. Consequently, an application that passes a UID obtained from a trustworthy source — for example SO_PEERCRED Unix socket peer credentials — in order to defend against PID reuse receives no protection, and the supplied UID has no effect on the authorization decision. A local unprivileged attacker who can cause an authorized process to terminate and then win the race to have their own process assigned the same PID can be authorized under the identity of the terminated process, bypassing the polkit authorization check and performing actions the attacker is not entitled to. This issue affects zbus_polkit before 5.1.0.
Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.