Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-85498

low Nessus Plugin ID 342766

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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.

- A flaw was found in polkit. When processing input that begins with a null byte, an arithmetic error in the authentication agent helper causes an integer underflow during buffer length calculation, resulting in an out-of-bounds memory read. An attacker capable of supplying crafted input can trigger this flaw, potentially causing an application crash and resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS). (CVE-2026-85498)

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: Low

ID: 342766

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2026_85498.nasl

Version: 1.8

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 9/4/2026

Updated: 11/7/2026

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Tenable Cloud Security, Tenable Self-Hosted Container Security, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Low

Score: 1.2

Percentile: 0.01

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5

Temporal Score: 4.3

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-85498

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Low

Base Score: 3.5

Temporal Score: 3.2

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

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:10, cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:8, cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:9, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:centos:centos:8, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:policykit-1, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:polkit-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:polkit-docs, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:polkit-libs, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:polkit-pkla-compat, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:polkit, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:polkit-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:polkit-docs, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:polkit-libs, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:polkit-pkla-compat, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:polkit

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

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-85498

Detections

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