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Amazon Linux 2023 : polkit, polkit-devel, polkit-libs (ALAS2023-2026-1546)

medium Nessus Plugin ID 306210

Synopsis

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

Description

It is, therefore, affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the ALAS2023-2026-1546 advisory.

 A flaw was found in polkit. A local user can exploit this by providing a specially crafted, excessively long input to the `polkit-agent-helper-1` setuid binary via standard input (stdin). This unbounded input can lead to an out-of-memory (OOM) condition, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) for the system.
 (CVE-2026-4897)

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 polkit --releasever 2023.11.20260413' or or 'dnf update --advisory ALAS2023-2026-1546 --releasever 2023.11.20260413' to update your system.

See Also

https://alas.aws.amazon.com//AL2023/ALAS2023-2026-1546.html

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

https://explore.alas.aws.amazon.com/CVE-2026-4897.html

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 306210

File Name: al2023_ALAS2023-2026-1546.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Published: 4/13/2026

Updated: 4/13/2026

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

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.4

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 4.6

Temporal Score: 3.4

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-4897

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5.5

Temporal Score: 4.8

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

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:polkit, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:polkit-debugsource, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:polkit-docs, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:polkit-libs, cpe:/o:amazon:linux:2023, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:polkit-libs-debuginfo, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:polkit-debuginfo, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:polkit-devel

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

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 4/13/2026

Vulnerability Publication Date: 3/26/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-4897