CVE-2026-49415: Local privilege escalation via execve(2) TOCTOU race
During execve(2) of a SUID binary, the new virtual address space is installed before the process credentials are updated. During this window, a process running as the same user can access the target process's memory via procfs or linprocfs, because the kernel's debugging permission check still saw the original credentials.
An unprivileged local user can exploit this race to modify the address space of a SUID binary before its credentials are elevated, potentially gaining full control of the affected system.
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
What access does an attacker need to exploit this issue?
The attacker must be an unprivileged local user. They need to run a process as the same user and access the target process's memory through procfs or linprocfs during the execve(2) race window.
What is the potential impact if exploitation succeeds?
An attacker can modify the address space of a SUID binary before its credentials are elevated. This can potentially give the attacker full control of the affected system.