Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-98254

critical Nessus Plugin ID 363291

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.

- swiotlb: use the adjusted address for the highmem page lookup swiotlb_bounce() reads the page frame number from the slot's recorded orig_addr, then advances orig_addr by tlb_offset to reach the address the caller asked about. The highmem branch mixes the two: the offset within the page comes from the adjusted address, the page from the value before it. Once the adjustment crosses a page boundary the pair no longer describes one location, and the whole copy lands one page below the intended one for a positive tlb_offset, one above for a negative one. DMA_FROM_DEVICE writes the device data over the wrong page and leaves the intended one stale, DMA_TO_DEVICE feeds the device from a page the mapping may not cover.
Partial syncs through dma_sync_single_range_for_*() are what make tlb_offset non-zero. The branch test is picked the same way, so a slot recorded in lowmem can be adjusted into highmem and the lowmem path then hands a highmem address to phys_to_virt(). Take both from orig_addr once it is final and keep pfn in the branch that uses it. PhysHighMem() asks the question straight from the address, as dma-debug already does.
(CVE-2026-98254)

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-2026-98254

Plugin Details

Severity: Critical

ID: 363291

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2026_98254.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 10/6/2026

Updated: 10/6/2026

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

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.9

Percentile: 58.41

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-2026-98254

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: cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:linux

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: 10/6/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-98254