HighCVE-2026-16445

    Red Hat: OS Command Injection (CVE-2026-16445)

    Published Last modified Sources: CVE.org, SUSE, Red Hat, Ubuntu

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    What is affected, what to do

    A flaw was found in dracut. A remote attacker on the adjacent network can exploit this vulnerability by providing specially crafted DHCP options, such as a malicious root-path, next-server, or bootfile name, to a system using dracut's NetworkManager-based initrd network module.

    Update Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 to version 0:049-244.git20260529.el8_10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support to version 0:049-138.git20220131.el8_4.1, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On to version 0:049-138.git20220131.el8_4.1.

    Affected
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 lt *..0:049-244.git20260529.el8_10
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support lt *..0:049-138.git20220131.el8_4.1
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On lt *..0:049-138.git20220131.el8_4.1
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support lt *..0:049-203.git20220511.el8_6.1
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On lt *..0:049-203.git20220511.el8_6.1
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update Service lt *..0:049-223.git20230119.el8_8.1
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Update Services for SAP Solutions lt *..0:049-223.git20230119.el8_8.1
    • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 lt *..412.86.202610250235-0
    • Red Hat Hardened Images lt *..109-7.hum1
    Fixed in
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 0:049-244.git20260529.el8_10
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support 0:049-138.git20220131.el8_4.1
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On 0:049-138.git20220131.el8_4.1
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support 0:049-203.git20220511.el8_6.1
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On 0:049-203.git20220511.el8_6.1
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update Service 0:049-223.git20230119.el8_8.1
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Update Services for SAP Solutions 0:049-223.git20230119.el8_8.1
    • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 412.86.202610250235-0
    • Red Hat Hardened Images 109-7.hum1

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    7.5

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v3

    7.5

    CVSS v3

    Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: CVE.org, SUSE, Red Hat, Ubuntu

    3.2 %

    EPSS score

    Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 88.3

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    High
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    120.37 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    no public PoC known
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    7.5 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    7.5
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    3.2 %
    Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    88.3
    Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    —
    Published
    CISA assessment (SSVC)
    Exploitation: none known · not automatable · Technical impact: total
    Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 22 July 2026
    CWE

    CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.

    Read in glossary
    CWE-78

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    A flaw was found in dracut. A remote attacker on the adjacent network can exploit this vulnerability by providing specially crafted DHCP options, such as a malicious root-path, next-server, or bootfile name, to a system using dracut's NetworkManager-based initrd network module. These options are improperly handled and written into a temporary shell script without proper escaping, leading to command injection. This allows the attacker to achieve root code execution within the initramfs during system boot.

    Source: NVD (NIST), suse_csaf, cvelistv5, redhat_csaf, Ubuntu Security Notices

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    Red HatRed Hat Enterprise Linux 10
    • —
    • —
    Red HatRed Hat Enterprise Linux 6
    • —
    • —
    Red HatRed Hat Enterprise Linux 7
    • —
    • —
    Red HatRed Hat Enterprise Linux 8
    • < 0:049-244.git20260529.el8_10
    • 0:049-244.git20260529.el8_10
    Red HatRed Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support
    • < 0:049-138.git20220131.el8_4.1
    • 0:049-138.git20220131.el8_4.1
    Red HatRed Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On
    • < 0:049-138.git20220131.el8_4.1
    • 0:049-138.git20220131.el8_4.1
    Red HatRed Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support
    • < 0:049-203.git20220511.el8_6.1
    • 0:049-203.git20220511.el8_6.1
    Red HatRed Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On
    • < 0:049-203.git20220511.el8_6.1
    • 0:049-203.git20220511.el8_6.1
    Red HatRed Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update Service
    • < 0:049-223.git20230119.el8_8.1
    • 0:049-223.git20230119.el8_8.1
    Red HatRed Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Update Services for SAP Solutions
    • < 0:049-223.git20230119.el8_8.1
    • 0:049-223.git20230119.el8_8.1
    Red HatRed Hat Enterprise Linux 9
    • —
    • —
    Red HatRed Hat Hardened Images
    • < 109-7.hum1
    • 109-7.hum1
    Red HatRed Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12
    • < 412.86.202610250235-0
    • 412.86.202610250235-0
    Red HatRed Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5
    • —
    • —

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Linuxubuntudracutbionic
    Linuxubuntudracutfocal
    Linuxubuntudracutjammy
    Linuxubuntudracutnoble
    Linuxubuntudracutresolute
    Linuxubuntudracutxenial

    Weakness classes (CWE)

    • CWE-78Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')

      Base

      The product constructs all or part of an OS command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended OS command when it is sent to a downstream component.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-78

    References & sources

    Changes to this CVE

    Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

    1. Record modifiedRed Hat

      1 individual change: Affected versions (publisher)

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/16xxx/CVE-2026-16445.json">CVE-2026-16445</a>

      Source identifier: secalert@redhat.com

    2. Record modifiedRed Hat

      1 individual change: Affected versions (publisher)

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/16xxx/CVE-2026-16445.json">CVE-2026-16445</a>

      Source identifier: secalert@redhat.com

    3. Record modifiedRed Hat

      Show 2 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/16xxx/CVE-2026-16445.json">CVE-2026-16445</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:90272

      Source identifier: secalert@redhat.com

    4. Record modifiedRed Hat

      Show 14 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/16xxx/CVE-2026-16445.json">CVE-2026-16445</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:26534
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:40700
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:61252
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-16445
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2459963
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2503147
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://github.com/dracutdevs/dracut/commit/e509c638e6
      Referenceremoved
      https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:26534
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:40700
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-16445
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2459963
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2503147
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://github.com/dracutdevs/dracut/commit/e509c638e6
      —

      Source identifier: secalert@redhat.com

    5. Record modifiedCISA ADP

      CISA assessment (SSVC): exploitation: none known, automatable: no

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      SSVC assessmentadded
      —
      {"id":"CVE-2026-16445","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-07-22T17:58:44.376796Z"}

      Source identifier: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

    Show one older change

    1. Record modifiedRed Hat

      Show 2 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:40700
      Affected versions (publisher)changed
      Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (+4)
      Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Hardened Images, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 (+4)

      Source identifier: secalert@redhat.com

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