CVE-2026-41991
LOWDescription
GNU gzip contains a vulnerability in the gzexe utility related to insecure temporary file handling. When the mktemp utility is not available in the user’s PATH, gzexe falls back to constructing a temporary file path based solely on the process ID (PID). This predictable filename is created without exclusive access or existence checks. A local attacker can pre‑create the predicted temporary file path as a symbolic link pointing to an arbitrary file writable by the victim. When gzexe runs, it follows the symlink and overwrites the target file, resulting in a time‑of‑check to time‑of‑use (TOCTOU) condition that allows arbitrary file overwrite. This issue has been fixed in the commit 4e6f8b24ab823146ab8776f0b7fe486ab34d4269
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v4 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 2% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-377 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2015-5224 | Critical | 9.8 | 4.5% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2026-20204 | High | 7.1 | 3.3% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2018-3710 | High | 7.8 | 2.9% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-16024 | Medium | 6.5 | 2.6% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2012-2666 | Critical | 9.8 | 1.9% | - | - |
| CVE-2018-16494 | High | 8.8 | 1.9% | - | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2026-41991?
Published advisories record a fix for 3 affected products. The "How to fix" section on this page lists the fixed version and source advisory for each one, so apply the entry matching what you actually run.
Is CVE-2026-41991 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2026-41991 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 0.12% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 2% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2026-41991?
CVE-2026-41991 has a CVSS v4 base score of 2.0, rated low. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2026-41991 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for gzip (Rocky), gzip (Red Hat / RHEL), gzip (Ubuntu). Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-06-29.