Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-40682

critical Nessus Plugin ID 312238

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.

- XML External Entity (XXE) via Unsanitized Dictionary Parsing in Apache OpenNLP DictionaryEntryPersistor Versions Affected: before 2.5.9, before 3.0.0-M3 Description: The DictionaryEntryPersistor class initializes a static SAXParserFactory at class-load time without enabling FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING or disabling DTD processing. When create(InputStream, EntryInserter) is invoked, the only feature set on the XMLReader is namespace support external entity resolution and DOCTYPE declarations remain fully enabled.
An attacker who can supply a crafted dictionary file (e.g., a stop-word list or domain dictionary) containing a malicious DOCTYPE declaration can trigger local file disclosure via file:// entity references or server-side request forgery via http:// entity references during SAX parsing, before the application processes a single dictionary entry. This is inconsistent with the project's own XmlUtil.createSaxParser() helper, which correctly sets FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING and disallow-doctype-decl and is used by all other XML parsing paths in the codebase. The public Dictionary(InputStream) constructor delegates directly to this method and is the documented API for loading user-supplied dictionaries, making untrusted input a realistic scenario. Mitigation: 2.x users should upgrade to 2.5.9. 3.x users should upgrade to 3.0.0-M3.
Users who cannot upgrade immediately should ensure that all dictionary files are sourced from trusted origins and should consider wrapping the Dictionary(InputStream) constructor with input validation that rejects any XML containing a DOCTYPE declaration before it reaches the parser. (CVE-2026-40682)

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://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-40682

Plugin Details

Severity: Critical

ID: 312238

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2026_40682.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 5/5/2026

Updated: 5/5/2026

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

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.0

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.8

Temporal Score: 5.8

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-40682

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Critical

Base Score: 9.1

Temporal Score: 8.3

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

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

Vulnerability Information

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

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

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 5/4/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-40682