CVE-2026-44604
rpm: Command injection in rpmuncompress doUntar() via unescaped archive top-level directory name in popen() shell command
Severity
ModerateRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.1
Review impact separately from score.
Published · May 28, 2026
Updated · September 1, 2026
Description
A command injection vulnerability was discovered in the rpmuncompress utility of RPM. When extracting certain archive formats (ZIP, 7z, GEM) to a specified destination directory, the tool inserts the archive's top-level folder name into a shell command without properly sanitizing it. A specially crafted archive containing shell metacharacters in its folder name can execute arbitrary commands as the user running the extraction.
Statement
This flaw affects RPM source-preparation workflows in build environments; standard tar extraction is not affected. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System (RHIVOS) ship rpm based on the 4.x codebase, which does not include the doUntar()/singleRoot() construction introduced in the rpm 6.0 rewrite that is required to trigger this issue. These products are therefore not affected.
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
No mitigation is specified in collected source.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.1 · 7CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CWE-78 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')