CVE Intelligence
High Logic error exploit reference

CVE-2026-4878 — Libcap: libcap: privilege escalation via toctou race condition in cap_set_file()

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.

Published Apr 9, 2026 · Updated Oct 14, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: redhat

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 0.1% (30-day exploitation probability)+0
  • Technical severity (high)+6

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
0.14%
ahead of 3% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026
Affects
Libcap Project
Libcap and 33 more
CVSS base
7.0
High · 4 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
None
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Libcap Project Libcap, Red Hat Cert Manager support for Red Hat OpenShift release 1.17, Red Hat Cert Manager support for Red Hat OpenShift release 1.18…).
  2. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
  3. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (logic error), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Libcap Project Libcap versions not specified by the source Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Red Hat Cert Manager support for Red Hat OpenShift release 1.17 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Cert Manager support for Red Hat OpenShift release 1.18 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Cert Manager support for Red Hat OpenShift release 1.20 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Cost Management 4 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 9.0version 8.0version 10.0 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Red Hat Hardened Images versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Openshift Container Platform version 4.0 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Red Hat Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.2 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.3 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat Discovery 2 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update Support versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update Service versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Update Services for SAP Solutions versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Update Services for SAP Solutions versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 Extended Update Support versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat Insights proxy 1.5 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.4 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.14 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.16 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.17 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.19 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing 3.9.3 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat Red Hat Update Infrastructure 5 versions not specified by the source Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
7.0 CVSS 3.1 High 1.0 5.9 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
6.7 CVSS 3.1 Medium 0.8 5.9 secalert@redhat.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
6.7 CVSS 3.1 Medium 0.8 5.9 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c via NIST National Vulnerability Database
6.7 CVSS 3.1 Medium — — redhat via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)
Scoring entities (NIST, CNA, ADP) score independently; each score is shown with its origin. For prioritization we use 7.0 (NVD (NIST)) as a conservative provisional reference — not a definitive official score.

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-367 · TOCTOU Race Condition

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 0.14%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
endpoint telemetry (EDR)

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products removed · 1
    Oct 14, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Affected products added · red hat/red hat hardened images
    Oct 14, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Affected products added · red hat/cert manager support for red hat openshift release 1.17, red hat/cert manager support for red hat openshift rele
    Oct 14, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Affected products added · red hat/red hat enterprise linux 10, red hat/red hat enterprise linux 10.0 extended update support, red hat/red hat ente
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 13, 2026
  • CVSS changed · 7.0
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Modified
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVE published
    Apr 9, 2026 · redhat

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 2× References added · Oct 14, 2026 – Oct 14, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

51 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Libcap Project
every CVE for this vendor
Logic error
same class
CWE-367
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-110924 Openssh: openssh: gssapi delegated credentials can be stored after a failed authentication 9h
  • CVE-2026-110927 Openssh: openssh: a compressed payload can expand past the maximum packet size 9h
  • CVE-2026-110925 Openssh: openssh: '$' and '\' in a command-line username expand through %u 17h
  • CVE-2026-110923 Openssh: openssh: sftp can write outside the destination directory from a server-supplied path 17h
  • CVE-2026-110926 Openssh: openssh: shared lz77 compression dictionary leaks plaintext across channels 17h
  • CVE-2026-86848 Dpdk: dpdk: time-of-check/time-of-use vulnerability allowing guest-triggered out-of-bounds write in vhost-crypto 1d

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-4878 is "Libcap: libcap: privilege escalation via toctou race condition in cap_set_file()", rated High. It affects Libcap (Libcap Project); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 7.0 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.14% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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