sh _uid does not drop supplementary groups (incomplete privilege drop)
Published Aug 18, 2026
7.9
HIGHCVSS 3.1
EPSS 0.17%
Description
sh provides Python process launching. Prior to 2.2.4, the _uid option in sh.py performs an incomplete privilege drop on Linux and Unix-like systems. When sh runs from an elevated process and launches a command with _uid set to an unprivileged user, the child changes its UID but can retain the parent process's supplementary groups because the privilege-drop sequence does not fully establish the target user's UID, primary GID, and supplementary groups. The child can therefore retain access to files or resources granted to privileged groups such as root, docker, disk, shadow, or sudo, violating the expected _uid privilege boundary. This issue is fixed in version 2.2.4.
Affected products
-
- Version < 2.2.4StatusaffectedConstraints-
- Version
No data.
No data.
Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4
container-native-virtualization/ocp-virt-validation-checkup-rhel9
Affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4 | container-native-virtualization/ocp-virt-validation-checkup-rhel9 | Affected | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
No remediation recorded yet.
References (9)
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-54552 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2518108 Issue Tracking
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-q38v-wp89-2w55 Advisory
- https://github.com/amoffat/sh/commit/3d855daba91f87a089b490c0d1cf1df3faace2f1 x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/amoffat/sh/pull/776 x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/amoffat/sh/releases/tag/2.2.4 x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/amoffat/sh/security/advisories/GHSA-q38v-wp89-2w55 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-54552
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-54552
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-54552 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2518108 | Issue Tracking | |
| https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-q38v-wp89-2w55 | Advisory | |
| https://github.com/amoffat/sh/commit/3d855daba91f87a089b490c0d1cf1df3faace2f1 | x_refsource_MISC | |
| https://github.com/amoffat/sh/pull/776 | x_refsource_MISC | |
| https://github.com/amoffat/sh/releases/tag/2.2.4 | x_refsource_MISC | |
| https://github.com/amoffat/sh/security/advisories/GHSA-q38v-wp89-2w55 | x_refsource_CONFIRM | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-54552 | ||
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-54552 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.