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Ubuntu 26.04 LTS : authd vulnerability (USN-8212-1)

high Nessus Plugin ID 311795

Synopsis

The remote Ubuntu host is missing a security update.

Description

The remote Ubuntu 26.04 LTS host has a package installed that is affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the USN-8212-1 advisory.

 It was discovered that authd incorrectly assigned the primary group ID to users under certain conditions.
 A local attacker could possibly use this issue to achieve privilege escalation, or gain unauthorized access to files belonging to other users.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu 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

Update the affected authd package.

See Also

https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8212-1

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 311795

File Name: ubuntu_USN-8212-1.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Published: 5/2/2026

Updated: 5/2/2026

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Continuous Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: High

Score: 7.4

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 4.6

Temporal Score: 3.4

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-6970

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.8

Temporal Score: 6.8

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

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

CVSS v4

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.3

Threat Score: 4.4

Threat Vector: CVSS:4.0/E:U

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:26.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:authd

Required KB Items: Host/cpu, Host/Debian/dpkg-l, Host/Ubuntu, Host/Ubuntu/release

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 4/27/2026

Vulnerability Publication Date: 4/27/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-6970

USN: 8212-1