CVE-2026-88838
Received Received - Intake

Mount Utility Security Bypass in BusyBox

Publication date: 2026-10-13

Last updated on: 2026-10-13

Assigner: redhat-SADP

Description
A flaw was found in BusyBox's mount utility. A non-root user can bypass mount security restrictions set in /etc/fstab by specifying clearing-mask options on the command line. These options pass the non-root flag filter and are merged with fstab options as strings; when the combined options are re-parsed, clearing options can override nosuid, nodev, and noexec protections the administrator intended to enforce.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-10-13
Last Modified
2026-10-13
Generated
2026-10-13
AI Q&A
2026-10-13
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-88838
EUVD
EUVD-2026-98898

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
Red Hat Red Hat Hardened Images *

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Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-693 The product does not use or incorrectly uses a protection mechanism that provides sufficient defense against directed attacks against the product.

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability is in BusyBox's mount utility. A non-root user can bypass security restrictions set in /etc/fstab by using clearing-mask options on the command line. These options bypass the non-root flag filter and are merged with fstab options as strings. When re-parsed, the combined options can override protections like nosuid, nodev, and noexec that administrators intended to enforce.

Impact Analysis

An attacker with local access could exploit this to bypass filesystem security restrictions. This might allow them to execute unauthorized programs, access sensitive data, or escalate privileges on the system by overriding intended protections like nosuid or noexec.

Mitigation Strategies

Update BusyBox to the latest version where this flaw is patched. Review /etc/fstab configurations to ensure critical mount options like nosuid, nodev, and noexec are enforced. Restrict non-root user access to mount commands if possible.

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