Vulnerability record · CVE-2026-126644 · published 12 November 2026
CVE-2026-126644: Link following vulnerability
A link-following flaw was found in the authorized_key module of the ansible.posix collection, residual to the fix for CVE-2026-11837. That fix guards only the final path component (os.chown with follow_symlinks=False and O_NOFOLLOW in _safe_open_write()). When an unprivileged local user replaces their ~/.ssh directory with a symlink to a directory they do not own, and an operator subsequently runs the authorized_key task as root (a common provisioning pattern), the module resolves its path operations through the symlink: atomic_move() writes the temporary file in the symlink target and renames it to <target>/authorized_keys, creating or overwriting a file in the attacker-chosen directory, and os.chmod(sshdir, 0o700) follows the symlink and changes the target directory's permissions. The written file is chowned to the unprivileged user, so this is not a privilege escalation, but it allows an attacker to create or overwrite files (for example in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/, which APT reads regardless of file ownership) to cause integrity and availability impacts.
Description
A link-following flaw was found in the authorized_key module of the ansible.posix collection, residual to the fix for CVE-2026-11837. That fix guards only the final path component (os.chown with follow_symlinks=False and O_NOFOLLOW in _safe_open_write()). When an unprivileged local user replaces their ~/.ssh directory with a symlink to a directory they do not own, and an operator subsequently runs the authorized_key task as root (a common provisioning pattern), the module resolves its path operations through the symlink: atomic_move() writes the temporary file in the symlink target and renames it to <target>/authorized_keys, creating or overwriting a file in the attacker-chosen directory, and os.chmod(sshdir, 0o700) follows the symlink and changes the target directory's permissions. The written file is chowned to the unprivileged user, so this is not a privilege escalation, but it allows an attacker to create or overwrite files (for example in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/, which APT reads regardless of file ownership) to cause integrity and availability impacts.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
References
Track CVE-2026-126644 inside VULONE
Watch it alongside the ransomware crews, C2 infrastructure and forum chatter that reference it, query it through the API and pull it into your SIEM over TAXII.
Related vulnerabilities
Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2026-126644), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS. This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.
