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

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-16524-pcp-linux-sockets-pmda-command-injection-in-network-persocket  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-07-30. Updated: 2026-07-30  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

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

- [https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/](https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/)
- [https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-16524](https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-16524)
- [https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2506023](https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2506023)