RCE in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
CVE-2026-16445
A flaw was found in dracut. A remote attacker on the adjacent network can exploit this vulnerability by providing specially crafted DHCP options, such as a malicious root-path, next-server, or bootfile name, to a system using dracut's NetworkManager-based initrd network module. These options are improperly handled and written into a temporary shell script without proper escaping, leading to command injection. This allows the attacker to achieve root code execution within the initramfs during system boot.
Vulnerability class: Command Injection (OS Command Injection)
EPSS: 0.029 (86.0th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Affected products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 — versions 0:049-244.git20260529.el8_10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat Hardened Images — versions 109-7.hum1
- Red Hat Openshift Container Platform 4
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- secalert@redhat.com (x_refsource_REDHAT, vendor-advisory)
- secalert@redhat.com (x_refsource_REDHAT, vdb-entry)
- secalert@redhat.com
- secalert@redhat.com (x_refsource_REDHAT, issue-tracking)
- secalert@redhat.com
- secalert@redhat.com (x_refsource_REDHAT, vendor-advisory)
- secalert@redhat.com (x_refsource_REDHAT, vendor-advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-16445?
- CVE-2026-16445 is a high-severity vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, classified under OS Command Injection. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2026-07-21.
- How severe is CVE-2026-16445?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.