CVE-2026-3888

HIGHPre-NVD 7.87.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 7.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: HIGH) published 2026-03-17. a secondary CVSS source baseline 7.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, secondary
Weaponized
7.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPatch this weekExploitation is likely or a public exploit exists.
  • Public exploit code is available (Metasploit, public exploit)
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 0.5%CVSS: 7.8Exploit: Metasploit · public exploitExposed services: Not assessed

A fix is available — apply it.

Local privilege escalation in snapd on Linux allows local attackers to get root privilege by re-creating snap's private /tmp directory when systemd-tmpfiles is configured to automatically clean up this directory. This issue affects Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, 18.04 LTS, 20.04 LTS, 22.04 LTS, and 24.04 LTS.

CVSS v3
7.8
EG Score
7.8HIGHmedium confidence
EG Risk
35
EG Risk 35/100

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity78% × 45%
Exploitation0% × 40%
Automatability0% × 15%
EPSS PROB
0.5%
EPSS %ILE
37th
KEV
Not listed

Published

March 17, 2026

Last Modified

June 17, 2026

Advisory Details (6)

Auto-updated Jun 4, 2026
🔬 Proof of concept available. Patch available. Sources: ubuntu.
generic

oss-security - Re: snap-confine + systemd-tmpfiles = root (CVE-2026-3888)

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/03/18/1
ubuntuMentions a patch (unverified)

USN-8102-1: snapd vulnerability | Ubuntu security notices | Ubuntu

https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8102-1
ubuntuMentions a patch (unverified)

CVE-2026-3888 | Ubuntu

Affected: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, 18.04 LTS, 20.04 LTS, 22.04 LTS, and

https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-3888
generic

Snapd - Local Privilege Escalation (CVE-2026-3888) - Security - Ubuntu Community Hub

https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/snapd-local-privilege-escalation-cve-2026-3888
generic🟡 PoC Available
https://cdn2.qualys.com/advisory/2026/03/17/snap-confine-systemd-tmpfiles.txt
generic

CVE-2026-3888: Important Snap Flaw Enables Local Privilege Escalation to Root | Qualys

https://blog.qualys.com/vulnerabilities-threat-research/2026/03/17/cve-2026-3888-important-snap-flaw-enables-local-privilege-escalation-to-root

Patch Availability(2)

Vendor / EcosystemFix (by version range) / PatchReleasedSource
ubuntuubuntu-snappy-cli (2.61.4ubuntu0.16.04.1+esm2) @ xenial2026-06-11ubuntu
ubuntuubuntu-snappy-cli (2.73+ubuntu24.04.2) @ noble2026-06-11ubuntu

Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.

Affected Packages

(4 across 4 ecosystems)
Debian:11(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
snapd2.49-1 ... 2.76-1 (40 versions)
  • every version on: no fix on record
—
Debian:12(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
snapd2.57.6-1
  • every version up to 2.57.6-1+deb12u1: fixed in 2.57.6-1+deb12u1
—
Debian:13(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
snapd2.68.3-3
  • every version up to 2.68.3-3+deb13u1: fixed in 2.68.3-3+deb13u1
—
Debian:14(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
snapd2.68.3-3 ... 2.75.2-2 (10 versions)
  • every version up to 2.76-1: fixed in 2.76-1
—

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

All Vendor Advisories

(2)

Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 7× in last 7d / 25× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 193 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-10-09 20:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-10-08 17:12 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-10-07 23:48 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-10-06 15:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-10-05 17:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-10-04 23:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-10-03 14:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-10-01 19:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-09-30 15:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-09-27 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-09-26 15:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-09-26 00:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-09-21 22:16 UTCOSV refresh
  14. 2026-09-20 20:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-09-18 19:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-09-18 19:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-09-17 19:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-09-16 14:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-09-16 05:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-09-15 03:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-09-13 16:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-09-12 15:01 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-09-11 14:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-09-11 09:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-09-10 09:34 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-09-08 22:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-09-07 16:01 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-09-06 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-09-04 05:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-09-02 18:08 UTCOSV refresh
  6. 2026-09-02 14:12 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-09-01 13:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-08-30 19:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-08-30 01:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-08-28 21:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-08-27 14:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-08-26 14:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-08-25 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-08-23 00:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-08-21 23:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-08-20 22:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-08-19 17:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-08-18 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-08-17 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-08-16 14:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-08-16 11:22 UTCEG score recompute
  22. 2026-08-16 11:22 UTCVendor advisory
  23. 2026-08-16 11:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-08-16 02:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-08-15 01:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-08-14 19:58 UTCVendor advisory
  27. 2026-08-14 19:58 UTCGHSA enrichment
  28. 2026-08-14 07:28 UTCEG score recompute
  29. 2026-08-14 07:28 UTCVendor advisory
  30. 2026-08-14 07:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  31. 2026-08-13 22:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-08-12 22:16 UTCEG score recompute
  33. 2026-08-12 22:16 UTCVendor advisory
  34. 2026-08-12 22:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  35. 2026-08-12 13:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-08-11 21:34 UTCEG score recompute
  37. 2026-08-11 21:34 UTCVendor advisory
  38. 2026-08-11 21:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  39. 2026-08-11 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-08-11 04:41 UTCEG score recompute
  41. 2026-08-11 04:41 UTCVendor advisory
  42. 2026-08-11 04:41 UTCGHSA enrichment
  43. 2026-08-11 00:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  44. 2026-08-10 07:33 UTCVendor advisory
  45. 2026-08-10 07:33 UTCGHSA enrichment
  46. 2026-08-09 19:18 UTCEG score recompute
  47. 2026-08-09 19:18 UTCVendor advisory
  48. 2026-08-09 19:18 UTCGHSA enrichment
  49. 2026-08-09 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  50. 2026-08-09 07:04 UTCEG score recompute
  51. 2026-08-09 07:04 UTCVendor advisory
  52. 2026-08-09 07:04 UTCGHSA enrichment
  53. 2026-08-08 16:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  54. 2026-08-08 05:56 UTCVendor advisory
  55. 2026-08-08 05:56 UTCGHSA enrichment
  56. 2026-08-07 17:42 UTCEG score recompute
  57. 2026-08-07 17:42 UTCVendor advisory
  58. 2026-08-07 17:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  59. 2026-08-06 19:33 UTCEG score recompute
  60. 2026-08-06 19:33 UTCVendor advisory
  61. 2026-08-06 19:33 UTCGHSA enrichment
  62. 2026-08-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  63. 2026-08-06 01:43 UTCEG score recompute
  64. 2026-08-06 01:43 UTCVendor advisory
  65. 2026-08-06 01:43 UTCGHSA enrichment
  66. 2026-08-05 19:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  67. 2026-08-04 15:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  68. 2026-08-04 10:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  69. 2026-08-04 00:52 UTCEG score recompute
  70. 2026-08-04 00:52 UTCVendor advisory
  71. 2026-08-04 00:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  72. 2026-08-03 10:36 UTCEPSS rescore
  73. 2026-08-02 16:50 UTCEG score recompute
  74. 2026-08-02 16:50 UTCVendor advisory
  75. 2026-08-02 16:50 UTCGHSA enrichment

Publicly available exploits

(6 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Metasploit module) (5 GitHub PoCs). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • Metasploitexploit/linux/local/cve_2026_3888✓ verified
    First seen Mar 17, 2026

    Local Privilege Escalation in snapd

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCnoambouillet/CVE-2026-3888
    First seen Mar 23, 2026

    Linux LPE via snap-confine + systemd-tmpfiles, explained in depth

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCnomaisthere/CVE-2026-3888
    First seen Mar 23, 2026

    Linux LPE via snap-confine + systemd-tmpfiles, explained in depth

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCTheCyberGeek/CVE-2026-3888-snap-confine-systemd-tmpfiles-LPE
    First seen Mar 23, 2026
    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCnetw0rk7/CVE-2026-3888-PoC
    First seen Mar 20, 2026
    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCfevar54/CVE-2026-3888-POC-all-from-the-Qualys-platform.
    First seen Mar 18, 2026

    This script demonstrates a race condition vulnerability in snapd that allows a local, unprivileged user to gain root privileges. The exploit works by recreating snap's private /tmp directory after it's cleaned up by systemd-tmpfiles, and tricking snap-confine into bind-mounting malicious files into the snap's sandbox.

    Open source ↗

Related CVEs(same product + same CWE)

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2026-3888?
CVE-2026-3888 is a high vulnerability published on March 17, 2026. Local privilege escalation in snapd on Linux allows local attackers to get root privilege by re-creating snap's private /tmp directory when systemd-tmpfiles is configured to automatically clean up this directory. This issue affects Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, 18.04 LTS, 20.04 LTS, 22.04 LTS, and 24.04 LTS.
When was CVE-2026-3888 disclosed?
CVE-2026-3888 was first published on March 17, 2026, with the most recent update on June 17, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2026-3888 actively exploited?
CVE-2026-3888 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. EchelonGraph's EG-KEV model classifies it as weaponized: a functional public exploit exists. FIRST EPSS estimates a 0.5% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (37th percentile of EPSS-scored CVEs).
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-3888?
CVE-2026-3888 has a CVSS base score of 7.8 (a secondary CVSS source that NVD displays; NVD's own analysis pending).
How do I remediate CVE-2026-3888?
A fix for CVE-2026-3888 is available: update to the fixed version the vendor names in its advisory.

Dependency Blast Radius

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