CVE-2026-54552

sh _uid does not drop supplementary groups (incomplete privilege drop)

HIGH
7.9
CVSS Score
Published: August 18, 2026 at 05:37 PM UTC
Updated: October 22, 2026 at 10:10 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorSh

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Severity
HIGH7.9
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

sh provides Python process launching. Prior to 2.2.4, the _uid option in sh.py performs an incomplete privilege drop on Linux and Unix-like systems. When sh runs from an elevated process and launches a command with _uid set to an unprivileged user, the child changes its UID but can retain the parent process's supplementary groups because the privilege-drop sequence does not fully establish the target user's UID, primary GID, and supplementary groups. The child can therefore retain access to files or resources granted to privileged groups such as root, docker, disk, shadow, or sudo, violating the expected _uid privilege boundary. This issue is fixed in version 2.2.4.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 2.2.4
Affected range stops below 2.2.4, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.9HIGHGitHub_M
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
HIGH
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
CHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusDEFERRED
CWE
CWE-273

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