CVE-2026-16524: PCP linux_sockets PMDA command injection in network.persocket.filter

CVE-2026-16524 · Severity: high · CVSS 7.8 · Published 2026-07-30

A security vulnerability has been identified in Performance Co-Pilot (PCP), a system monitoring toolkit used in various Linux distributions. An attacker with local access to the system can exploit a flaw in how the software handles network socket filters to run unauthorized commands. This could allow a malicious user to gain higher privileges, access sensitive data, or disrupt system operations.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-16524 exploited in the wild?
No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-16524 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-16524?
High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.8, published 30 July 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?
Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 affected; Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 affected; Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 affected; Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 affected; and 2 more.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-16524?
No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.
How is CVE-2026-16524 attacked?
It is attacked with local access, in an operating system.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-16524?
Check whether you run PCP Performance Co-Pilot. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

Technical details

A command injection vulnerability exists in the Performance Co-Pilot (PCP) linux_sockets Performance Metrics Domain Agent (PMDA). The root cause is a logic error in the sockets_check_filter() validation helper, which returns 1 for safe input and 0 for unsafe input; however, the store handler incorrectly inverts this check, rejecting safe expressions and accepting malicious ones containing shell metacharacters. An attacker can provide a crafted value to the network.persocket.filter metric, which is subsequently executed via popen() as the PMDA process user when metrics refresh. Exploitation requires the linux_sockets PMDA to be loaded and the 'ss' binary to be present on the system.

Affected products

  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 affected
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 affected
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 affected
  • Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 affected
  • Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 affected
  • PCP Performance Co-Pilot (PCP)

Timeline

  • 2026-07-22: disclosed: Initial report in Red Hat Bugzilla
  • 2026-07-30: advisory: NVD and Red Hat published advisory details

References

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