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Amazon Linux 2023 : protobuf, protobuf-compiler, protobuf-devel (ALAS2023-2026-1407)

high Nessus Plugin ID 299545

Synopsis

The remote Amazon Linux 2023 host is missing a security update.

Description

It is, therefore, affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the ALAS2023-2026-1407 advisory.

 A denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability exists in google.protobuf.json_format.ParseDict() in Python, where the max_recursion_depth limit can be bypassed when parsing nested google.protobuf.Any messages.

 Due to missing recursion depth accounting inside the internal Any-handling logic, an attacker can supply deeply nested Any structures that bypass the intended recursion limit, eventually exhausting Python's recursion stack and causing a RecursionError. (CVE-2026-0994)

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the tested product security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Run 'dnf update protobuf --releasever 2023.10.20260216' or or 'dnf update --advisory ALAS2023-2026-1407 --releasever 2023.10.20260216' to update your system.

See Also

https://alas.aws.amazon.com//AL2023/ALAS2023-2026-1407.html

https://alas.aws.amazon.com/faqs.html

https://explore.alas.aws.amazon.com/CVE-2026-0994.html

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 299545

File Name: al2023_ALAS2023-2026-1407.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: local

Agent: unix

Published: 2/19/2026

Updated: 2/19/2026

Supported Sensors: Continuous Assessment, Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.4

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5.4

Temporal Score: 4

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-0994

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5.9

Temporal Score: 5.2

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

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

CVSS v4

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 8.2

Threat Score: 4.6

Threat Vector: CVSS:4.0/E:U

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:protobuf-compiler, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:protobuf-debuginfo, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:protobuf-debugsource, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:protobuf-devel, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:protobuf-lite-debuginfo, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:protobuf-compiler-debuginfo, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:protobuf-emacs, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:protobuf-lite, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:protobuf-lite-devel, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:python3-protobuf, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:python3-protobuf-debuginfo, cpe:/o:amazon:linux:2023, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:protobuf-vim, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:protobuf-lite-static, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:protobuf, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:protobuf-static

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/AmazonLinux/release, Host/AmazonLinux/rpm-list

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 2/18/2026

Vulnerability Publication Date: 1/23/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-0994