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CVE-2026-16460

HIGH 7.4

Published 2026-10-19 · Last modified 2026-10-19

A flaw was found in bootc and ostree. Already-staged deployments are finalized without revalidating the deployment's container image against the current containers signature policy. Unsigned OS content staged under a prior permissive policy can remain bootable after policy is hardened to reject unsigned images, leading to full host compromise on reboot.

ELEVATED IMPACT

Severe if exploited (CVSS 7.4), but no known exploitation and low modeled probability. Patch on a normal cadence.

Exploitation likelihood

0.1%chance of exploitation in 30 days · 0th percentile

○ In CISA KEV ○ Public exploit / PoC

Impact if exploited

7.4CVSS 3.1 · HIGH

  • ConfidentialityHigh
  • IntegrityHigh
  • AvailabilityHigh

What an attacker needs

  • ⚠Access: Requires local access to the host
  • ✓Privileges: No account or privileges required
  • ✓User interaction: No user interaction needed
  • ⚠Complexity: Needs a race window or specific setup

✓ lowers the bar for an attacker · ⚠ raises it

Proof of concept & exploit code

Test against your own equipment

curl -s https://vulnpedia.com/cve/CVE-2026-16460/poc.jsonMachine-readable PoC index for this CVE (for automation).

Listed for defensive triage, patch verification, and authorized testing on systems you own. Machine-readable: /cve/CVE-2026-16460/poc.json

Affected

Vendors Red Hat

Products Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Red Hat Hardened Images Red Hat Openshift Container Platform 4

Weakness (CWE)

  • CWE-345: Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity

CVSS vector

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

All CVSS metrics

  • HIGH 7.4 v3.1 · CNA Primary
    CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
  • HIGH 7.4 v3.1 · NVD Secondary
    CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References

Technical & other

Sources: NVD · CVE.org · EPSS