Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-0966

medium Nessus Plugin ID 298574

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.

- The API function `ssh_get_hexa()` is vulnerable, when 0-lenght input is provided to this function. This function is used internally in `ssh_get_fingerprint_hash()` and `ssh_print_hexa()` (deprecated), which is vulnerable to the same input (length is provided by the calling application). The function is also used internally in the gssapi code for logging the OIDs received by the server during GSSAPI authentication.
This could be triggered remotely, when the server allows GSSAPI authentication and logging verbosity is set at least to SSH_LOG_PACKET (3). This could cause self-DoS of the per-connection daemon process.
(CVE-2026-0966)

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://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2026-0966

https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-0966

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 298574

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2026_0966.nasl

Version: 1.9

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 2/10/2026

Updated: 3/29/2026

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

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Low

Score: 3.3

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.4

Temporal Score: 5.4

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-0966

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.5

Temporal Score: 6

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

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:11.0, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libssh-config, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:libssh, cpe:/o:centos:centos:8, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libssh-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libssh, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libssh-config, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libssh-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libssh, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0

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

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-0966

IAVA: 2026-A-0166