Red Hat sudo.: code execution
High7.8CVE-2026-96512 · Published Sep 23, 2026 · updated Sep 24, 2026
A flaw was found in sudo. When sudoers rules use NOTBEFORE or NOTAFTER time-based access restrictions with timestamps that omit the trailing 'Z' timezone indicator, the time evaluation relies on the TZ environment variable inherited from the calling user. Because sudo is a setuid-root program, an unprivileged local user can set TZ to an extreme timezone offset to shift the authorization window by up to approximately 25 hours, causing expired rules to be treated as valid. This allows the user to execute commands outside the intended time window. Authentication is not bypassed; only the time-based authorization check is affected.
Affected versions
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Product | all versions | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Product | all versions | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Product | all versions | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Product | all versions | No fix yet |
Details and references
- CVSS 3.1
- CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Severity from
- the vendor (its own CVE record or advisory)
- Weakness
- CWE-863
- www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-96512
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-96512
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:71609
- access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-96512
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2539327
- github.com/sudo-project/sudo/commit/1820a349687522f51023d1ae5925125f59679a8c
- www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/09/24/4
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