CVE-2026-16445

Publication date 21 July 2026

Last updated 28 September 2026

Ubuntu priority

Medium

Why this priority?

Cvss 3 Severity Score

7.5 · High

Score breakdown

Description

A flaw was found in dracut. A remote attacker on the adjacent network can exploit this vulnerability by providing specially crafted DHCP options, such as a malicious root-path, next-server, or bootfile name, to a system using dracut's NetworkManager-based initrd network module. These options are improperly handled and written into a temporary shell script without proper escaping, leading to command injection. This allows the attacker to achieve root code execution within the initramfs during system boot.

Status

Package Ubuntu Release Status
dracut 26.04 LTS resolute
Not affected
24.04 LTS noble
Not affected
22.04 LTS jammy
Fixed 051-1ubuntu0.1~esm1
20.04 LTS focal
Not affected
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial
Not affected

Get expanded security coverage with Ubuntu Pro

Reduce your average CVE exposure time from 98 days to 1 day with expanded CVE patching, ten-years security maintenance and optional support for the full stack of open-source applications. Free for personal use.

Get Ubuntu Pro 30-day free trial

Patch details

For informational purposes only. We recommend not to cherry-pick updates. How can I get the fixes?

Package Patch details
dracut

Severity score breakdown

CVSS version: CVSS v3.0

Base score 7.5 · High

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

References

Related Ubuntu Security Notices (USN)

    • USN-8828-1
    • dracut vulnerabilities
    • 28 September 2026

Other references

Access our resources on patching vulnerabilities