Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-54552

high Nessus Plugin ID 338844

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.

- sh provides Python process launching. Prior to 2.2.4, the _uid option in sh.py performs an incomplete privilege drop on Linux and Unix-like systems. When sh runs from an elevated process and launches a command with _uid set to an unprivileged user, the child changes its UID but can retain the parent process's supplementary groups because the privilege-drop sequence does not fully establish the target user's UID, primary GID, and supplementary groups. The child can therefore retain access to files or resources granted to privileged groups such as root, docker, disk, shadow, or sudo, violating the expected
_uid privilege boundary. This issue is fixed in version 2.2.4. (CVE-2026-54552)

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-2026-54552

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 338844

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2026_54552.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 8/22/2026

Updated: 8/22/2026

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.8

Percentile: 57.82

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.2

Temporal Score: 6.1

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-54552

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.9

Temporal Score: 7.2

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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:python-sh

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: 7/17/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-54552