CVE-2026-19685
Description
NetworkManager did not apply the private_user restriction to the 802-1x.ca-path and phase2-ca-path directory-valued connection properties. This incomplete fix for CVE-2025-9615 allows an unprivileged local user to point a private WPA-Enterprise (802.1X) connection profile's CA path at an attacker-controlled directory, bypassing server certificate validation and enabling credential theft via a rogue access point.
Statement
This issue is limited to WPA-Enterprise (802.1X) network connections; open and WPA2-Personal (PSK) networks are not affected. Exploitation requires an unprivileged, active local user session holding the (commonly passwordless on desktop systems) settings.modify.own polkit permission; the flaw is not reachable from a remote or inactive SSH session. NetworkManager is the sole affected component: wpa_supplicant/hostapd are downstream consumers that correctly use whatever ca_path directory they are handed and require no change. This is an incomplete fix for CVE-2025-9615 - the 802-1x.ca-path and phase2-ca-path directory-valued properties were not covered by the private_user guard applied to the sibling FILE-typed certificate/key properties and the pac-file property in that earlier fix.
Mitigation
Upstream fix is public: NetworkManager rejects 802-1x.ca-path and 802-1x.phase2-ca-path on private connections (those with connection.permissions) and requires ca-cert or system-ca-certs instead. Fixed upstream in commit a8e87381 (MR 2513), shipped in NetworkManager 1.58.1 and later 1.60 development snapshots. Until the fixed package is installed, use system-wide 802.1X profiles rather than per-user private ones, or set 802-1x.system-ca-certs=yes so the compiled system CA path overrides any user-supplied ca-path.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 7.1 | N/A | 7.1 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | Low |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | High | N/A | High |
| Availability Impact | None | N/A | None |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Red Hat CVSS v3 Score Explanation
Local unprivileged user with settings.modify.own can point a private 802.1X profile ca-path at an attacker CA directory, bypassing server cert validation and enabling EAP credential theft / MITM via an evil-twin AP. AV:L PR:L because an active local seat is required. C:H I:H for captured EAP credentials and integrity of the enterprise session. CISA 9.8 AV:N/PR:N is incorrect.
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Application Data; Read Files or Directories
An attacker could bypass intended access restrictions to read sensitive data, either by reading the data directly from a data store that is not correctly restricted, or by accessing insufficiently-protected, privileged functionality to read the data.
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Application Data; Modify Files or Directories
An attacker could bypass intended access restrictions to modify sensitive data, either by writing the data directly to a data store that is not correctly restricted, or by accessing insufficiently-protected, privileged functionality to write the data.
Access Control
Technical Impact: Gain Privileges or Assume Identity; Bypass Protection Mechanism
An attacker could bypass intended access restrictions to gain privileges by modifying or reading critical data directly, or by accessing privileged functionality.
Confidentiality,Integrity,Availability
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
An attacker could use elevated privileges to execute unauthorized commands or code.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory); DoS: Resource Consumption (Other)
An attacker could gain unauthorized access to resources on the system and excessively consume those resources, leading to a denial of service.
Acknowledgements
Red Hat would like to thank Vivek Parikh (BreachX Zero Day Labs) for reporting this issue.
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