{"id":"CVE-2026-49237","state":"PUBLISHED","title":"Local Privilege Escalation in Canonical Multipass","description":"An issue was discovered in Canonical Multipass for macOS before version 1.16.3 due to an incomplete fix for CVE-2025-5199. While the patch in version 1.16.0 updated the ownership of the multipassd daemon binary to root:wheel, five co-located binaries (multipass, qemu-img, qemu-system-aarch64, qemu-system-x86_64, and sshfs_server) in /Library/Application Support/com.canonical.multipass/bin/ retain ownership by the installing user and remain writable. Because the root LaunchDaemon (com.canonical.multipassd.plist) configures a PATH environment variable that prioritizes this user-writable directory and invokes these auxiliary binaries by their bare names, a local attacker can replace an auxiliary binary (such as qemu-img) with a malicious wrapper. When the root daemon subsequently triggers the binary during routine execution (e.g., via multipass launch), the malicious code executes with root privileges, leading to local privilege escalation.","publishedAt":"2026-05-28T13:22:42.840Z","updatedAt":"2026-05-28T15:15:27.077Z","severity":{"score":7.8,"label":"High","version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","source":"canonical"},"assigner":"canonical","products":["Canonical Multipass"],"affected":[{"vendor":"Canonical","product":"Multipass","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"0","status":"affected","lessThan":"1.16.3","versionType":"semver"}],"platforms":["MacOS"]}],"references":["https://github.com/canonical/multipass/security/advisories/GHSA-r2xg-x32f-23c5"],"weaknesses":["CWE-276"],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-29T20:12:07.131Z","source":{"repository":"CVEProject/cvelistV5","path":"cves/2026/49xxx/CVE-2026-49237.json","commit":"556c9d3a8cd17e218bb8e452ba7cd619a384ff47"},"raw":{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2026-49237","state":"PUBLISHED","datePublished":"2026-05-28T13:22:42.840Z","dateUpdated":"2026-05-28T15:15:27.077Z","assignerShortName":"canonical","assignerOrgId":"cc1ad9ee-3454-478d-9317-d3e869d708bc","dateReserved":"2026-05-28T12:03:02.295Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"title":"Local Privilege Escalation in Canonical Multipass","descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"An issue was discovered in Canonical Multipass for macOS before version 1.16.3 due to an incomplete fix for CVE-2025-5199. While the patch in version 1.16.0 updated the ownership of the multipassd daemon binary to root:wheel, five co-located binaries (multipass, qemu-img, qemu-system-aarch64, qemu-system-x86_64, and sshfs_server) in /Library/Application Support/com.canonical.multipass/bin/ retain ownership by the installing user and remain writable. Because the root LaunchDaemon (com.canonical.multipassd.plist) configures a PATH environment variable that prioritizes this user-writable directory and invokes these auxiliary binaries by their bare names, a local attacker can replace an auxiliary binary (such as qemu-img) with a malicious wrapper. When the root daemon subsequently triggers the binary during routine execution (e.g., via multipass launch), the malicious code executes with root privileges, leading to local privilege escalation."}],"affected":[{"vendor":"Canonical","product":"Multipass","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"0","status":"affected","lessThan":"1.16.3","versionType":"semver"}],"platforms":["MacOS"]}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/canonical/multipass/security/advisories/GHSA-r2xg-x32f-23c5","tags":["vendor-advisory"]}],"metrics":[{"format":"CVSS","scenarios":[{"lang":"en","value":"GENERAL"}],"cvssV3_1":{"version":"3.1","attackVector":"LOCAL","attackComplexity":"LOW","privilegesRequired":"LOW","userInteraction":"NONE","scope":"UNCHANGED","confidentialityImpact":"HIGH","integrityImpact":"HIGH","availabilityImpact":"HIGH","baseSeverity":"HIGH","baseScore":7.8,"vectorString":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"}}],"problemTypes":[{"descriptions":[{"cweId":"CWE-276","lang":"en","description":"Incorrect default permissions","type":"CWE"}]}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"canonical","orgId":"cc1ad9ee-3454-478d-9317-d3e869d708bc","dateUpdated":"2026-05-28T13:22:42.840Z"},"source":{"discovery":"EXTERNAL"}},"adp":[{"title":"CISA ADP Vulnrichment","metrics":[{"other":{"type":"ssvc","content":{"timestamp":"2026-05-28T15:15:18.418559Z","id":"CVE-2026-49237","options":[{"Exploitation":"none"},{"Automatable":"no"},{"Technical Impact":"total"}],"role":"CISA Coordinator","version":"2.0.3"}}}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"CISA-ADP","orgId":"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0","dateUpdated":"2026-05-28T15:15:27.077Z"}}]}}}