Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-24001

medium Nessus Plugin ID 296224

Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

- jsdiff is a JavaScript text differencing implementation. Prior to versions 8.0.3, 5.2.2, 4.0.4, and 3.5.1, attempting to parse a patch whose filename headers contain the line break characters `\r`, `\u2028`, or `\u2029` can cause the `parsePatch` method to enter an infinite loop. It then consumes memory without limit until the process crashes due to running out of memory. Applications are therefore likely to be vulnerable to a denial-of-service attack if they call `parsePatch` with a user-provided patch as input. A large payload is not needed to trigger the vulnerability, so size limits on user input do not provide any protection. Furthermore, some applications may be vulnerable even when calling `parsePatch` on a patch generated by the application itself if the user is nonetheless able to control the filename headers (e.g.
by directly providing the filenames of the files to be diffed). The `applyPatch` method is similarly affected if (and only if) called with a string representation of a patch as an argument, since under the hood it parses that string using `parsePatch`. Other methods of the library are unaffected. Finally, a second and lesser interdependent bug - a ReDOS - also exhibits when those same line break characters are present in a patch's *patch* header (also known as its leading garbage). A maliciously-crafted patch header of length *n* can take `parsePatch` O(*n*) time to parse. Versions 8.0.3, 5.2.2, 4.0.4, and 3.5.1 contain a fix. As a workaround, do not attempt to parse patches that contain any of these characters:
`\r`, `\u2028`, or `\u2029`. (CVE-2026-24001)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

See Also

https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-24001

https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-24001

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 296224

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2026_24001.nasl

Version: 1.3

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 1/22/2026

Updated: 2/5/2026

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.4

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 4.3

Temporal Score: 3.7

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-24001

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Temporal Score: 6.9

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:U/RC:C

CVSS v4

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.9

Threat Score: 2.7

Threat Vector: CVSS:4.0/E:U

Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:14.0, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:node-diff, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:22.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:11.0, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:24.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:25.10, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:node-diff, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/cpu, global_settings/vendor_unpatched, Host/OS/identifier

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 1/14/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-24001