ReviewHigh

CVE-2026-61898

Canonical accountsservice

The Ubuntu-specific language helper scripts (save-to-pam-env, update-langlist) shipped with accountsservice before 23.13.9-8ubuntu7 treat the user-controlled LANGUAGE entry in ~/.pam_environment as trusted input. The value is interpolated unescaped into a GNU sed replacement expression, allowing an attacker to inject a sed 'e' flag and arbitrary shell commands that execute with the privileges of the AccountsService helper process (real UID 0) via the SetLanguage D-Bus method.

CVSS: 7.8
EPSS: -
CISA KEV: Not listed
Published: 2026.08.21

PRIORITY ASSESSMENT

Review

The CVSS severity warrants an early asset and exposure review.

Known exploitationNot established by KEV

Exploit probability-

Technical severityCVSS 7.8

Vulnerability overview

Affected product and versions

Product: Canonical accountsservice
Affected versions: >= 22.07.5-2ubuntu1 < 22.07.5-2ubuntu1.6, >= 23.13.9-2ubuntu6 < 23.13.9-2ubuntu6.1, >= 23.13.9-8ubuntu5 < 23.13.9-8ubuntu5.2, >= 23.13.9-8ubuntu6 < 23.13.9-8ubuntu7
Fixed versions: No verified fixed-version field is available yet

Recommended response sequence

Confirm exposure before applying a vendor-supported change.

Full remediation guide

1
Identify
Confirm that Canonical accountsservice and an affected version are present.
2
Prioritize
Combine exploitation signals with asset exposure and business criticality.
3
Remediate
Follow the vendor advisory or supported update path and preserve rollback options.
4
Verify
Recheck the version, service health, access paths, and relevant logs.

Technical data

CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CWE: CWE-78