Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-21717

critical Nessus Plugin ID 303760

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.

- A flaw in V8's string hashing mechanism causes integer-like strings to be hashed to their numeric value, making hash collisions trivially predictable. By crafting a request that causes many such collisions in V8's internal string table, an attacker can significantly degrade performance of the Node.js process. The most common trigger is any endpoint that calls JSON.parse() on attacker-controlled input, as JSON parsing automatically internalizes short strings into the affected hash table. Thank you, to sharp_edged for reporting this vulnerability and thank you joyeecheung for fixing it. (CVE-2026-21717)

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

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

Plugin Details

Severity: Critical

ID: 303760

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2026_21717.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 3/25/2026

Updated: 3/25/2026

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 5.2

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Temporal Score: 6.4

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-21717

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Critical

Base Score: 9.8

Temporal Score: 9

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

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:11.0, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:nodejs, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:14.0

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: 3/24/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-21717

Detections

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