CVE-2026-16552
Description
A flaw was found in systemd-tmpfiles. When processing a tmpfiles.d configuration entry that writes to a file, systemd-tmpfiles can follow a symbolic link placed by an unprivileged local user, and an existing safety check does not detect this specific case because it always treats transitions away from the root user as safe. On systems where a tmpfiles.d configuration targets a path an unprivileged user can influence, this could allow that user to redirect a privileged systemd-tmpfiles write to a file of their choosing, though the content written remains determined by the existing configuration rather than by the unprivileged user. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to integrity.
Predictions
Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.
Mitigations
No mitigations published for this CVE yet.
The vendor-content worker queues fetches as references arrive (check back in a few minutes). Or — if you've already worked around this in production — publish your fix to the community-verified tier.
✚ Propose a mitigation on Community → Mitigations published via the community go through AI scoring + 2 human reviewers + 7-day silent objection window before landing here withsource_tier=community-verified.
References
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-16552
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2506073
- https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/b9ef5951f8f9e156479494fdb9ca6274cb3d3c53/src/basic/chase.c
- https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/b9ef5951f8f9e156479494fdb9ca6274cb3d3c53/src/tmpfiles/tmpfiles.c
CWEs
CWE-59
Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.
Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.