CVE-2026-12542: A flaw was found in Foreman

Routine

MEDIUM 5.3WATCHLISTUPGRADEUPGRADE

CVE-2026-12542 is a medium-severity flaw (CVSS 5.3) affecting satellite, foreman. Below: why it ranks where it does, which versions are affected, what to do, and the exact commands.

A flaw was found in Foreman. The foreman-tail utility is vulnerable to OS command injection due to the unsafe use of the eval command. The script takes user-supplied arguments and incorporates them directly into a string that is then executed by eval to expand file paths. Because the input is not sanitized or quoted, a local attacker can inject shell metacharacters (e.g., ;, &, |) to execute arbitrary system commands.

Why this priority

On your watchlist

A fixed release or distro patch exists.

Risk facts

CVSS score	5.3 (Medium)
Attack vector	Local
Attack complexity	Low
Privileges needed	Low
User interaction	None
EPSS exploit chance	0.6% (top 53%)
CISA exploited list	No
Weakness	CWE-78
Published	2026-10-01
Last modified	2026-10-16

Publisher (CNA): Red Hat, Inc. · Vendor: redhat · theforeman

Last updated 2026-10-16 · Sources: CVE Program, NVD, CISA KEV, EPSS and vendor advisories · How we score

Am I affected?

Timeline

2026-10-01 18:17 UTCPublished CVE record published
2026-10-16 13:19 UTCUpdated Record last modified

redhat satellite UPGRADE

Affected: >= 6.16 and < 6.16.4 · >= 6.17 and < 6.17.12 · >= 6.19 and < 6.19.5 · >= 6.18 and < 6.18.10 · 6.0

Fixed in: 6.16.4, 6.17.12, 6.18.10, 6.19.5

Safe to downgrade to: a release before 6.0

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy satellite || rpm -q satellite || satellite --version

2. UPGRADE to 6.16.4 (Debian / Ubuntu)

sudo apt update && sudo apt install --only-upgrade satellite

2. UPGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

sudo dnf upgrade satellite

Note

Distros often backport fixes without changing the version number. Confirm with the distro advisory or changelog.

3. If no update is available yet, DOWNGRADE to a release before 6.0 (Debian / Ubuntu)

apt-cache madison satellite sudo apt install satellite=<VERSION_BEFORE_6.0> sudo apt-mark hold satellite

3. If no update is available yet, DOWNGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

dnf --showduplicates list satellite sudo dnf downgrade satellite-<VERSION_BEFORE_6.0> sudo dnf versionlock add satellite

Downgrade risk

Downgrading can break dependent software and may reopen older bugs. Read the distro advisory first and test on a non-production host.

After downgrade

Restart the service, and keep the package held until a fixed release ships.

theforeman foreman UPGRADE

Affected: >= 1.5.0 and <= 3.19.1 · 5.0.0

Fixed in: newer than 3.19.1

Safe to downgrade to: a release before 1.5.0

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy foreman || rpm -q foreman || foreman --version

2. UPGRADE to newer than 3.19.1 (Debian / Ubuntu)

sudo apt update && sudo apt install --only-upgrade foreman

2. UPGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

sudo dnf upgrade foreman

Note

Distros often backport fixes without changing the version number. Confirm with the distro advisory or changelog.

3. If no update is available yet, DOWNGRADE to a release before 1.5.0 (Debian / Ubuntu)

apt-cache madison foreman sudo apt install foreman=<VERSION_BEFORE_1.5.0> sudo apt-mark hold foreman

3. If no update is available yet, DOWNGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

dnf --showduplicates list foreman sudo dnf downgrade foreman-<VERSION_BEFORE_1.5.0> sudo dnf versionlock add foreman

Downgrade risk

Downgrading can break dependent software and may reopen older bugs. Read the distro advisory first and test on a non-production host.

After downgrade

Restart the service, and keep the package held until a fixed release ships.

Verify at the official source NVD · CVE Program · Report a problem with this page
Scores and fixes here are computed automatically from those and other public sources. Confirm with the vendor advisory before changing production systems.

Quick answers

How do I fix CVE-2026-12542?

satellite: upgrade to 6.16.4, 6.17.12, 6.18.10, 6.19.5; foreman: upgrade to newer than 3.19.1. Exact commands for each OS are on this page.

Is CVE-2026-12542 being exploited?

CVE-2026-12542 is not on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list at the time of the last update. Check again, as this can change.

What does CVE-2026-12542 affect?

CVE-2026-12542 affects satellite, foreman. Severity is medium (CVSS 5.3). A flaw was found in Foreman. The foreman-tail utility is vulnerable to OS command injection due to the unsafe use of the eval command. The script takes user-supplied arguments and incorporates them directly into a string that is then execut

How urgent is CVE-2026-12542?

Priority 35/100. On your watchlist

Related CVEs

CVE-2026-12112 HIGH 7.8 DOWNGRADE MITIGATE A flaw was found in the foreman-mcp-server
CVE-2026-13316 MEDIUM 4.4 UPGRADE MITIGATE A flaw has been found in foreman when HTTP parameters are modified in http_proxies_controller and http_proxy f
CVE-2026-96658 HIGH 8.8 UPGRADE UPGRADE A flaw was found in Foreman
CVE-2026-96659 CRITICAL 9.1 UPGRADE UPGRADE A flaw was found in Foreman
CVE-2026-12423 HIGH 7.5 UPGRADE MITIGATE A flaw was found in Foreman

References

← Back to latest CVEs