Bug 2519523 (CVE-2026-76561)

Summary: CVE-2026-76561 pki-core: Dogtag/PKI: certprofile-import allows code execution via unsanitized profile content (ExternalProcessConstraint)
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security <prodsec-ir-bot>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: high Docs Contact:
Priority: high    
Version: unspecifiedCC: aakkiang, cfu, edewata, gkimetto, jmagne, mfargett, prisingh, rhel-process-autobot, security-response-team, skhandel, snegrini, taherrin, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version: Doc Type: ---
Doc Text:
A flaw was found in Dogtag PKI, as used by FreeIPA's certificate authority component. The certificate profile import functionality does not fully validate uploaded profile content beyond the profile ID. An authenticated user with CA Administrator privileges can exploit Dogtag's ExternalProcessConstraint mechanism to execute arbitrary commands with attacker-controlled environment variables, achieving code execution as the pkiuser account.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:
Deadline: 2026-09-07   

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-08-19 12:32:13 UTC
FreeIPA's certprofile_import.pre_callback (ipaserver/plugins/certprofile.py) only extracts and validates the profileId field from an uploaded certificate profile; the remainder of the profile configuration is passed through unvalidated to Dogtag. Dogtag's ExternalProcessConstraint (base/ca/src/main/java/com/netscape/cms/profile/constraint/ExternalProcessConstraint.java) executes a configured binary with request-derived environment variables, giving a user who can import certificate profiles (a CA-Administrator-equivalent privilege) code execution as pkiuser.

Independently reproduced against a stock freeipa/freeipa-server:almalinux-10 (FreeIPA 4.13.1) install, using an administrator credential obtained via the companion FreeIPA takeover flaw: the certprofile-import -> ExternalProcessConstraint chain executed attacker-controlled commands. In the reference container, a further SSSD-cache-forging + ksu misconfiguration escalated this to full root — confirmed via a random-token file write, then read back through an independent channel to rule out fabricated output. Whether the root escalation applies to a genuine RHEL RPM-packaged IdM/PKI install (as opposed to being specific to the community container's SSSD/ksu configuration) has not yet been independently confirmed and needs follow-up before finalizing severity.

This requires an already-authenticated CA-Administrator-equivalent account — it is not reachable anonymously on its own. Identified as part of the PSIRTSUPT-21812 investigation; see linked ticket for reproduction evidence.

Comment 1 Jon Orris 2026-09-30 08:16:28 UTC
This issue has been addressed in the following products:

  Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10

Via RHSA-2026:73765 https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:73765

Comment 2 Jon Orris 2026-09-30 09:07:19 UTC
This issue has been addressed in the following products:

  Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

Via RHSA-2026:73766 https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:73766

Comment 3 Jon Orris 2026-10-05 02:44:32 UTC
This issue has been addressed in the following products:

  Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8

Via RHSA-2026:75573 https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:75573