Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Affecting libcap package, versions <0:2.48-5.el8_8.1


Severity

Recommended
high

Based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux security rating.

Threat Intelligence

EPSS
0.2% (10th percentile)

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  • Snyk IDSNYK-RHEL8-LIBCAP-17157411
  • published4 Jun 2026
  • disclosed6 Apr 2026

Introduced: 6 Apr 2026

CVE-2026-4878  (opens in a new tab)
CWE-367  (opens in a new tab)

How to fix?

Upgrade RHEL:8 libcap to version 0:2.48-5.el8_8.1 or higher.
This issue was patched in RHSA-2026:22957.

NVD Description

Note: Versions mentioned in the description apply only to the upstream libcap package and not the libcap package as distributed by RHEL. See How to fix? for RHEL:8 relevant fixed versions and status.

A flaw was found in libcap. A local unprivileged user can exploit a Time-of-check-to-time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition in the cap_set_file() function. This allows an attacker with write access to a parent directory to redirect file capability updates to an attacker-controlled file. By doing so, capabilities can be injected into or stripped from unintended executables, leading to privilege escalation.

CVSS Base Scores

version 3.1