CVE-2026-41651
8.8 · HIGHOverview
CVE-2026-41651 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting packagekit_project packagekit. It was published on April 22, 2026 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8, rated HIGH. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.
Technical Description
PackageKit is a a D-Bus abstraction layer that allows the user to manage packages in a secure way using a cross-distro, cross-architecture API. PackageKit between and including versions 1.0.2 and 1.3.4 is vulnerable to a time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition on transaction flags that allows unprivileged users to install packages as root and thus leads to a local privilege escalation. This is patched in version 1.3.5.
A local unprivileged user can install arbitrary RPM packages as root, including executing RPM scriptlets, without authentication. The vulnerability is a TOCTOU race condition on `transaction->cached_transaction_flags` combined with a silent state-machine guard that discards illegal backward transitions while leaving corrupted flags in place. Three bugs exist in `src/pk-transaction.c`:
1. Unconditional flag overwrite (line 4036): `InstallFiles()` writes caller-supplied flags to `transaction->cached_transaction_flags` without checking whether the transaction ha
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from packagekit_project. Update packagekit to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| packagekit_project | packagekit | >= 1.0.2, < 1.3.5 | Affected |
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2026-41651?
CVE-2026-41651 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting packagekit_project packagekit. It was published on April 22, 2026 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH).
How severe is CVE-2026-41651?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8, rated HIGH. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2026-41651?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from packagekit_project. Update packagekit to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2026-41651?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2026-41651 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
How CyberStrike Helps
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