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major vulnerability· requires attention

Plesk is a widely deployed hosting control panel; a local TOCTOU symlink flaw allows root takeover on many hosted servers—high-impact for hosting providers and web infrastructure.

Applications

CVE-2026-68488

9.9
Critical
EPSS 0.20%Sep 12, 2026

Plesk Backup Manager TOCTOU symlink flaw enables local root takeover

common questions

Is CVE-2026-68488 being exploited?

Not confirmed. CVE-2026-68488 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.20% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How severe is CVE-2026-68488?

CVE-2026-68488 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.9. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.

Is there a patch for CVE-2026-68488?

Not known from our data. No patch reference has been recorded for CVE-2026-68488, which is not the same as no patch existing — a fix may have shipped without a tagged reference, or after this record was written. The vendor advisory is the only authority on whether a fix exists, and mitigations may be available regardless.

What does CVE-2026-68488 affect?

CVE-2026-68488 affects Plesk (Backup Manager - restore operation), Plesk control panel installations on Linux servers. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.

What should I do about CVE-2026-68488?

Apply vendor update when available; restrict local access and audit restore operations

Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.

executive summary
technical analysis
affected
Plesk (Backup Manager - restore operation)Plesk control panel installations on Linux servers
impact

Local attackers can exploit a symlink race during restore to escalate to root and take ownership of arbitrary files/dirs.

action required

Immediate action required

affected versions
WebPros Plesk
  • affected<= 18.0.80.6
  • affected<= 18.0.79.10

As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.

how to fix
Remediation steps are tailored for users whose stack is affected. Add this technology to your stack to see the fix checklist.
references
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