Description
A flaw was found in polkit. A local user can exploit this by providing a specially crafted, excessively long input to the `polkit-agent-helper-1` setuid binary via standard input (stdin). This unbounded input can lead to an out-of-memory (OOM) condition, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) for the system.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Hardened Images | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | — | — |
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 | policykit-1 | 127-3 | — |
| Debian 13 | policykit-1 | No fix yet | — |
| Debian 12 | policykit-1 | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 25.10 | policykit-1 | 126-2ubuntu0.1 | USN-8173-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | policykit-1 | 124-2ubuntu1.24.04.3 | USN-8173-1 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | policykit-1 | 0.105-33ubuntu0.1 | USN-8173-1 |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | policykit-1 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | policykit-1 | No fix yet | — |
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | policykit-1 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS | policykit-1 | No fix yet | — |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 10 | polkit +3 | 125-4.el10_2.1 | RHSA-2026:59997 |
Show 1 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Hardened Images 1 | polkit +3 | 127-5.1.hum1 | RHSA-2026:66287 |
AlmaLinux
Errata ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| AlmaLinux 10 | polkit +3 | 125-4.el10_2.1 | ALSA-2026:59997 |
Rocky Linux
Errata ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky Linux 10 | polkit | 125-4.el10_2.1 | RLSA-2026:59997 |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES 15 SP7 | polkit | 121-150500.3.11.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:1424-1 |
| SLES 12 SP5 | polkit | 0.113-5.35.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:1425-1 |
Show 6 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES for SAP 16.0 | polkit | 123-160000.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:22090-1 |
| SLES 16.0 | polkit | 123-160000.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:22090-1 |
| SLE Micro 6.2 | expat | 2.7.1-160000.5.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:20969-1 |
| SLE Micro 6.2 | polkit | 123-160000.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:22054-1 |
| SLE Micro 6.1 | polkit | 121-slfo.1.1_3.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:21032-1 |
| SLE Micro 6.0 | polkit | 121-4.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:20969-1 |
| SLE Micro 5.5 | polkit | 121-150500.3.11.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:1424-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | polkit | 127-3.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:10453-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | polkit | 123-160000.3.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:20925-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | polkit | 121-150500.3.11.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:1424-1 |
Amazon Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux 2023 | polkit +3 | 125-1.amzn2023.0.3 | ALAS2023-2026-1546 |
Azure Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Linux 3 | polkit | 123-4 | — |
Oracle Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle Linux 10 | polkit +3 | 125-4.0.1.el10_2.1 | ELSA-2026-59997 |
Advisories 16
- WID-SEC-2026-3021 PolicyKit: Schwachstelle ermöglicht Denial of Service BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Nov 10, 2026
- ALSA-2026:59997 Moderate: polkit security update AlmaLinux Security Advisories · Oct 29, 2026
- RHSA-2026:66287 Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Oct 6, 2026
- RHSA-2026:59997 Red Hat Security Advisory: polkit security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Sep 11, 2026
- RLSA-2026:59997 Moderate: polkit security update Rocky Linux Security Advisories · Aug 26, 2026
- ELSA-2026-59997 Moderate: polkit security update (Oracle Linux 10) Oracle Linux Security Advisories (ELSA) · Aug 26, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:22090-1 Security update for polkit SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Jun 16, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:20925-1 Security update for polkit SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Jun 10, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:22054-1 Security update for polkit SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Jun 10, 2026
- USN-8173-1 policykit-1 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Apr 27, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:1425-1 Security update for polkit SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Apr 18, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:1424-1 Security update for polkit SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Apr 18, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:21032-1 Security update for polkit SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Apr 14, 2026
- ALAS2023-2026-1546 Moderate: polkit security update (Amazon Linux 2023) Amazon Linux Security Center (ALAS) · Apr 13, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:20969-1 Security update for polkit SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Apr 9, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:10453-1 libpolkit-agent-1-0-127-3.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Mar 29, 2026
References
- RHSA-2026:59997 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2026:66287 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2026:97463 vendor-advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-4897 vdb-entry
- RHBZ#2451739 issue-tracking