Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-77159

medium Nessus Plugin ID 344762

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 symlink-following flaw was found in libvirt's qemuTPMEmulatorPrepareHost() function. The function uses a path-based chown() on the swtpm logfile without checking for symbolic links. A local attacker with access to the swtpm account can replace the logfile with a symlink, causing libvirtd (running as root) to transfer ownership of an arbitrary file to the swtpm user. (CVE-2026-77159)

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://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2026-77159

https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-77159

https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-77159

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 344762

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2026_77159.nasl

Version: 1.5

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 9/11/2026

Updated: 9/17/2026

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: 3

Percentile: 23.61

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-2026-77159

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:N/I:H/A:N

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: 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:canonical:ubuntu_linux:22.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:24.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:26.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:centos:centos:8, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libvirt-hwe, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libvirt, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-admin, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-bash-completion, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-client-qemu, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-client, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-common, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-config-network, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-config-nwfilter, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-driver-interface, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-driver-network, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-driver-nodedev, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-driver-nwfilter, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-driver-qemu, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-driver-secret, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-disk, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-gluster, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-iscsi-direct, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-iscsi, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-logical, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-mpath, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-rbd, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-scsi, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-kvm, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-lock, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-log, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-plugin-lockd, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-plugin-sanlock, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon-proxy, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-daemon, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-docs, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-libs, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-lock-sanlock, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-nss, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-ssh-proxy, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt-wireshark, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libvirt, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:libvirt, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-admin, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-bash-completion, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-client-qemu, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-client, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-common, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-config-network, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-config-nwfilter, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-driver-interface, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-driver-network, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-driver-nodedev, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-driver-nwfilter, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-driver-qemu, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-driver-secret, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-disk, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-gluster, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-iscsi-direct, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-iscsi, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-logical, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-mpath, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-rbd, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-scsi, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-driver-storage, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-kvm, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-lock, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-log, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-plugin-lockd, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-plugin-sanlock, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon-proxy, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-daemon, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-docs, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-libs, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-lock-sanlock, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-nss, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-ssh-proxy, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt-wireshark, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libvirt

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: 9/11/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-77159