Description
A flaw was found in cockpit-machines. When saving Virtual Network Computing (VNC) console settings, the configured password is passed directly as a command-line argument to an underlying system utility. A local unprivileged attacker on a host that allows cross-user process inspection could read the exposed password from the process list while another user modifies settings. This credential disclosure can allow unauthorized access to the guest virtual machine's graphical console.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | — | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | cockpit-machines | 360-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | cockpit-machines | No fix yet | — |
| Debian 12 | cockpit-machines | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | cockpit-machines | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | cockpit-machines | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | cockpit-machines | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | cockpit-machines | No fix yet | — |
References
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-113496 vdb-entry
- RHBZ#2556058 issue-tracking