Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-9494

medium Nessus Plugin ID 327442

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.

- An information disclosure vulnerability exists in Canonical ubuntu-pro-client (formerly ubuntu-advantage- tools). The client validates Ubuntu Pro APT credentials by executing /usr/lib/apt/apt-helper using the download-file command. During this process, the secret bearer token is embedded directly in the cleartext URL component passed via the command-line arguments (argv), resulting in a URL format such as https://bearer:<token>@esm.ubuntu.com/.../. On systems utilizing a default-mounted /proc file system where process-hiding mitigations (such as hidepid) are disabled, an unprivileged local attacker can monitor system processes and read the sensitive bearer token directly from /proc/cmdline while the helper process is actively running. This leaked token can subsequently be used to gain unauthorized access to the victim's Ubuntu Pro or Expanded Security Maintenance (ESM) repositories. (CVE-2026-9494)

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: Medium

ID: 327442

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2026_9494.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 7/16/2026

Updated: 7/16/2026

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Low

Base Score: 2.1

Temporal Score: 1.8

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-9494

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5.5

Temporal Score: 5.1

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

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:ubuntu-advantage-tools, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:25.10

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: 7/16/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-9494

Detections

Analytics