Is there a public exploit for CVE-2026-72693?

No public exploit for CVE-2026-72693 was found in Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei templates or public proof-of-concept repositories. That is an absence of evidence rather than proof that none exists.

How severe is CVE-2026-72693?

CVE-2026-72693 scores CVSS 7.8 (v3.1), rated high. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.11%.

What does CVE-2026-72693 affect?

CVE-2026-72693 affects Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.22, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat Hardened Images.

7.8 High

openvt -u is intended to identify the owner of the current VT and then execute login as that user from a privileged context.

CVE-2026-72693

openvt -u is intended to identify the owner of the current VT and then execute login as that user from a privileged context. In the documented kbrequest/init usage, the ownership test in authenticateuser() relies on stat("/proc/ /fd/0"). stat() on /proc/ /fd/0 follows the symlink to the underlying TTY device node. As a result, buf.stuid reflects the owner of the TTY node rather than the owner of the process holding the file descriptor. If the TTY owner returns to root or the getty owner after logout while an unprivileged process still has fd 0 attached to that TTY, the check can incorrectly treat that process as belonging to the privileged console owner. Once that check succeeds, the -u path executes a passwordless login as the selected user. In the documented kbrequest/init deployment using openvt -us, this can result in passwordless login -f root on the spawned VT. This report establishes that privilege escalation path for that documented deployment; it does not claim equivalent reachability for deployments that do not use openvt -u from a privileged kbrequest/init path.

Assessment

CVSS: 7.8 (v3.1)
Severity: High
EPSS: 0.11% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Known exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Exploit availability: Nothing found in Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei or public PoC repositories
Published: 11 August 2026
Last updated: 2 November 2026
Affected: Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 · Red Hat Hardened Images
Assigner: redhat

CVSS vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

At the source

EUVD (ENISA)

References

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