CVE-2026-23893 | openCryptoki has improper link resolution before file access (link following)

openCryptoki is a PKCS#11 library and provides tooling for Linux and AIX. Versions 2.3.2 and above are vulnerable to symlink-following when running in privileged contexts. A token-group user can redirect file operations to arbitrary filesystem targets by planting symlinks in group-writable token directories, resulting in privilege escalation or data exposure. Token and lock directories are 0770 (group-writable for token users), so any token-group member can plant files and symlinks inside them. When run as root, the base code handling token directory file access, as well as several openCryptoki tools used for administrative purposes, may reset ownership or permissions on existing files inside the token directories. An attacker with token-group membership can exploit the system when an administrator runs a PKCS#11 application or administrative tool that performs chown on files inside the token directory during normal maintenance. This issue is fixed in commit 5e6e4b4, but has not been included in a released version at the time of publication.

Published: 2026-01-22 Last update: 2026-03-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-23893 is rated Low Risk (28/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.01%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-23893

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-01-22 0.01%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-23893

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.8 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
1.3 5.5 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-23893

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-23893

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-23893 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (opencryptoki), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): open 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-23893
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-23893
suse medium CVE-2026-23893 severity moderate: SUSE including 38 source package names (2.1.3-6.12:elemental-register-1.6.8-1.1, 2.1.3-6.12:elemental-support-1.6.8-1.1, …), 51 product×package rows across 18 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/baremetal-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, … (18 product lines)): Fixed 48, First Fixed 3. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-23893/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-23893 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (opencryptoki), 7 status rows across 7 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 7. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-23893

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-23893

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
opencryptoki_project opencryptoki >= 2.3.2 cpe:2.3:a:opencryptoki_project:opencryptoki:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-23893

cvelogic Threat Intelligence