Summary
sh _uid does not drop supplementary groups (incomplete privilege drop)
Workarounds
Avoid using _uid when the user represents a less-privileged user.
Impact
The _uid option performed an incomplete privilege drop on Linux/Unix-like systems.
When sh was run from a process with elevated privileges, such as root, and a command was launched with _uid=<unprivileged user>, the child process changed its UID and primary GID but did not reset its supplementary groups. As a result, the child process could retain the parent process’s supplementary groups, potentially including privileged groups such as root, docker, disk, shadow, or sudo.
This could allow a subprocess that was expected to run with reduced privileges to access files or resources available to the original process’s supplementary groups. Users are impacted if they rely on _uid as a privilege boundary when launching commands from a privileged parent process.
CVE-2026-54552 has a CVSS score of 7.9 (High). The vector is requires local access, high privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (2.2.4); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Upgrade to version >= 2.2.4
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-54552? CVE-2026-54552 is a high-severity security vulnerability in sh (pip), affecting versions < 2.2.4. It is fixed in 2.2.4.
- How severe is CVE-2026-54552? CVE-2026-54552 has a CVSS score of 7.9 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of sh are affected by CVE-2026-54552? sh (pip) versions < 2.2.4 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-54552? Yes. CVE-2026-54552 is fixed in 2.2.4. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-54552 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-54552 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2026-54552 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2026-54552? Upgrade
shto 2.2.4 or later.