Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-120689

medium Nessus Plugin ID 375562

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.

- HDF5 through 2.2.0 contains an uncontrolled recursion vulnerability in H5B__iterate_helper() in src/H5B.c.
When iterating a version 1 B-tree, the function does not verify that a child node's level matches the expected level. That check is performed only in H5B__cache_deserialize() when a node is first loaded into the metadata cache. A crafted HDF5 file whose B-tree child pointer refers back to a node already in the cache, such as a node that points to itself, bypasses the check and causes unbounded recursion, leading to stack exhaustion and a crash. This can be triggered by calling H5Gget_info() or H5Gget_num_objs() on a group in the crafted file, which reaches H5B_iterate() through H5G__obj_info() and H5G__stab_count(). An attacker who can get a user or application to open a malicious file can cause a denial of service.
(CVE-2026-120689)

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-2026-120689

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 375562

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2026_120689.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 11/3/2026

Updated: 11/3/2026

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Low

Score: 3

Percentile: 23.74

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 4.3

Temporal Score: 3.7

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-120689

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5.5

Temporal Score: 5.1

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

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

CVSS v4

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.8

Threat Score: 4.3

Threat Vector: CVSS:4.0/E:U

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: 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:hdf5

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: 11/2/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-120689