Ubuntu 22.04 LTS / 24.04 LTS / 26.04 LTS : GNU Core Utilities vulnerabilities (USN-8697-1)

#%NASL_MIN_LEVEL 80900
##
# (C) Tenable, Inc.
#
# The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were
# extracted from Ubuntu Security Notice USN-8697-1. The text
# itself is copyright (C) Canonical, Inc. See
# <https://ubuntu.com/security/notices>. Ubuntu(R) is a registered
# trademark of Canonical, Inc.
##

include('compat.inc');

if (description)
{
  script_id(365429);
  script_version("1.1");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2026/10/13");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2025-5278", "CVE-2026-56391");
  script_xref(name:"USN", value:"8697-1");

  script_name(english:"Ubuntu 22.04 LTS / 24.04 LTS / 26.04 LTS : GNU Core Utilities vulnerabilities (USN-8697-1)");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"synopsis", value:
"The remote Ubuntu host is missing one or more security updates.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"description", value:
"The remote Ubuntu 22.04 LTS / 24.04 LTS / 26.04 LTS host has packages installed that are affected by multiple
vulnerabilities as referenced in the USN-8697-1 advisory.

    It was discovered that GNU Core Utilities sort had a heap buffer under-read in its begfield() function. A
    local attacker could possibly use this issue to cause GNU Core Utilities to crash, resulting in a denial
    of service, or obtain sensitive information. (CVE-2025-5278)

    It was discovered that GNU Core Utilities uniq had an out-of-bounds read when the -w option was used with
    crafted multibyte input. A local attacker could possibly use this issue to cause GNU Core Utilities to
    crash, resulting in a denial of service, or obtain sensitive information. This issue only affected Ubuntu
    26.04 LTS. (CVE-2026-56391)

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

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version
number.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8697-1");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"solution", value:
"Update the affected coreutils and / or gnu-coreutils packages.");
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:C");
  script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:U/RL:OF/RC:C");
  script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H");
  script_set_cvss3_temporal_vector("CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cvss4_vector", value:"CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:L/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cvss4_threat_vector", value:"CVSS:4.0/E:U");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cvss_score_source", value:"CVE-2026-56391");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"No known exploits are available");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploit_available", value:"false");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2025/05/27");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2026/08/31");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2026/10/13");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:22.04:-:lts");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:24.04:-:lts");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:26.04:-:lts");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:coreutils");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:gnu-coreutils");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"generated_plugin", value:"current");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_family(english:"Ubuntu Local Security Checks");

  script_copyright(english:"Ubuntu Security Notice (C) 2026 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2026 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");

  script_dependencies("ssh_get_info2.nasl");
  script_require_keys("Host/cpu", "Host/Ubuntu", "Host/Ubuntu/release", "Host/Debian/dpkg-l");

  exit(0);
}

include('debian_package.inc');

if ( ! get_kb_item('Host/local_checks_enabled') ) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED);
var os_release = get_kb_item('Host/Ubuntu/release');
if ( isnull(os_release) ) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, 'Ubuntu');
os_release = chomp(os_release);
if (! ('22.04' >< os_release || '24.04' >< os_release || '26.04' >< os_release)) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, 'Ubuntu 22.04 / 24.04 / 26.04', 'Ubuntu ' + os_release);
if ( ! get_kb_item('Host/Debian/dpkg-l') ) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING);

var cpu = get_kb_item('Host/cpu');
if (isnull(cpu)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_ARCH);
if ('x86_64' >!< cpu && cpu !~ "^i[3-6]86$" && 's390' >!< cpu && 'aarch64' >!< cpu) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_IMPLEMENTED, 'Ubuntu', cpu);

var pkgs = [
    {'osver': '22.04', 'pkgname': 'coreutils', 'pkgver': '8.32-4.1ubuntu1.4', 'cves': ['CVE-2025-5278']},
    {'osver': '24.04', 'pkgname': 'coreutils', 'pkgver': '9.4-3ubuntu6.3', 'cves': ['CVE-2025-5278']},
    {'osver': '26.04', 'pkgname': 'gnu-coreutils', 'pkgver': '9.7-3ubuntu2.1', 'cves': ['CVE-2025-5278', 'CVE-2026-56391']}
];

var flag = 0;
foreach var package_array ( pkgs ) {
  var osver = NULL;
  var pkgname = NULL;
  var pkgver = NULL;
  if (!empty_or_null(package_array['osver'])) osver = package_array['osver'];
  if (!empty_or_null(package_array['pkgname'])) pkgname = package_array['pkgname'];
  if (!empty_or_null(package_array['pkgver'])) pkgver = package_array['pkgver'];
  if (!empty_or_null(package_array['cves'])) cves = package_array['cves'];
  if (osver && pkgname && pkgver) {
    if (deb_check(release:osver, prefix:pkgname, reference:pkgver, cves:cves)) flag++;
  }
}

if (flag)
{
  var extra = '';
  extra += ubuntu_report_get();
  security_report_v4(
    port       : 0,
    severity   : SECURITY_WARNING,
    extra      : extra
  );
  exit(0);
}
else
{
  var tested = ubuntu_pkg_tests_get();
  if (tested) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_AFFECTED, tested);
  else audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_INSTALLED, 'coreutils / gnu-coreutils');
}