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Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-2291

critical Nessus Plugin ID 314272

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.

 - dnsmasqs extract_name() function can be abused to cause a heap buffer overflow, allowing an attacker to inject false DNS cache entries, which could result in DNS lookups to redirect to an attacker-controlled IP address, or to cause a DoS. (CVE-2026-2291)

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-2026-2291

Plugin Details

Severity: Critical

ID: 314272

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2026_2291.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 5/11/2026

Updated: 5/11/2026

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 5.1

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-2026-2291

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: p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:dnsmasq, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:11.0, 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: 5/11/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-2291