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Ubuntu 26.04 systemd Important Local Privilege Escalation Vuln 8626

Linuxsecurity •LinuxSecurity Advisories • August 10, 2026

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Several security issues were fixed in systemd. Software Description: - systemd: system and service manager Details: It was discovered that systemd-homed did not properly verify the signature of records. A local attacker could possibly use this issue to add arbitrary system groups to a logged-in user and gain elevated privileges. (CVE-2026-16742) It was discovered that systemd-machined incorrectly handled certain polkit authorization checks. A local attacker could possibly use this issue to terminate arbitrary processes, including privileged ones. This issue only affected Ubuntu 26.04 LTS. (CVE-2026-15060) It was discovered that systemd-oomd did not properly validate certain IPC requests. A local attacker could possibly use this issue to terminate arbitrary processes. (CVE-2026-15059)

Several security issues were fixed in systemd.

Software Description:

- systemd: system and service manager

It was discovered that systemd-homed did not properly verify the signature

of records. A local attacker could possibly use this issue to add

arbitrary system groups to a logged-in user and gain elevated privileges.

It was discovered that systemd-machined incorrectly handled certain polkit

authorization checks. A local attacker could possibly use this issue to

terminate arbitrary processes, including privileged ones. This issue only

affected Ubuntu 26.04 LTS. (CVE-2026-15060)

It was discovered that systemd-oomd did not properly validate certain IPC

requests. A local attacker could possibly use this issue to terminate

arbitrary processes. (CVE-2026-15059)

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions: Ubuntu 26.04 LTS systemd 259.5-0ubuntu3.4 systemd-homed 259.5-0ubuntu3.4 systemd-oomd 259.5-0ubuntu3.4 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS systemd 255.4-1ubuntu8.17 systemd-homed 255.4-1ubuntu8.17 systemd-oomd 255.4-1ubuntu8.17 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS systemd 249.11-0ubuntu3.22 systemd-oomd 249.11-0ubuntu3.22 In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

CVE-2026-15059, CVE-2026-15060, CVE-2026-16742

Ubuntu Security Notice USN-8626-1

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The full story

This article is one source in a clustered incident — the cluster page carries the summary, timeline and every other outlet covering it.

Critical systemd Vulnerabilities in Ubuntu 26.04 Allow Local Privilege Escalation Multiple vulnerabilities were discovered in systemd affecting Ubuntu 26.04 LTS. Specifically, CVE-2026-16742 allows local attackers to add arbitrary system groups to a logged-in user, potentially gaining elevated privileges. CVE-2026-15060 enables attackers to terminate arbitrary processes, including privileged ones, due to improper handling of polkit authorization checks. CVE-2026-15059 allows termination of arbitrary processes due to improper validation of IPC requests. These vulnerabilities pose significant risks, especially in environments where users have local access. Affected systems include Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, and updates are available to mitigate these issues. Users are advised to apply the necessary updates promptly to secure their systems. 2 sources 72

Extracted Entities

Ubuntu 26.04 systemd Important Local Privilege Escalation Vuln 8626

The full story

Extracted Entities

Attack Types (1)

Companies (1)

CVEs (3)

CWE Weaknesses (1)

MITRE ATT&CK (1)

Platforms (3)