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Ubuntu 14.04 LTS / 16.04 LTS / 18.04 LTS / 20.04 LTS / 22.04 LTS / 24.04 LTS / 26.04 LTS : attr vulnerability (USN-8691-1)

high Nessus Plugin ID 365389

Synopsis

The remote Ubuntu host is missing a security update.

Description

The remote Ubuntu 14.04 LTS / 16.04 LTS / 18.04 LTS / 20.04 LTS / 22.04 LTS / 24.04 LTS / 26.04 LTS host has packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the USN-8691-1 advisory.

 It was discovered that attr incorrectly handled symbolic links while traversing directory paths. A local attacker who controlled a pathname component could possibly use this issue to redirect privileged attr operations to arbitrary files and gain elevated privileges.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Update the affected attr and / or libattr1 packages.

See Also

https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8691-1

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 365389

File Name: ubuntu_USN-8691-1.nasl

Version: 1.2

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Published: 10/13/2026

Updated: 10/14/2026

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

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.3

Percentile: 53.52

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.2

Temporal Score: 4.6

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-54371

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.3

Temporal Score: 5.5

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

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

CVSS v4

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 8.4

Threat Score: 5.8

Threat Vector: CVSS:4.0/E:U

Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

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, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:attr, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libattr1

Required KB Items: Host/cpu, Host/Debian/dpkg-l, Host/Ubuntu, Host/Ubuntu/release

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 8/31/2026

Vulnerability Publication Date: 6/29/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-54371

USN: 8691-1