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Ubuntu 26.04 LTS : c-ares vulnerability (USN-8844-1)

🗓️ 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00Reported by TenableType 
nessus
 nessus
🔗 www.tenable.com👁 2 Views

Use-after-free or double-free in c-ares query completion callbacks leading to DoS or RCE.

Related
Refs
Code
#%NASL_MIN_LEVEL 80900
##
# (C) Tenable, Inc.
#
# The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were
# extracted from Ubuntu Security Notice USN-8844-1. 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(351470);
  script_version("1.1");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2026/09/30");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2026-33630");
  script_xref(name:"USN", value:"8844-1");

  script_name(english:"Ubuntu 26.04 LTS : c-ares vulnerability (USN-8844-1)");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"synopsis", value:
"The remote Ubuntu host is missing a security update.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"description", value:
"The remote Ubuntu 26.04 LTS host has packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the
USN-8844-1 advisory.

    It was discovered that c-ares incorrectly handled certain query completion callbacks. An attacker could
    possibly use this issue to trigger a use- after-free or double-free, resulting in a denial of service or
    arbitrary code execution.

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.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8844-1");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"solution", value:
"Update the affected libc-ares2 and / or libcares2 packages.");
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/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:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H");
  script_set_cvss3_temporal_vector("CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cvss_score_source", value:"CVE-2026-33630");

  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:"2026/07/07");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2026/09/29");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2026/09/30");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
  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:libc-ares2");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libcares2");
  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_info.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 (! ('26.04' >< os_release)) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, 'Ubuntu 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': '26.04', 'pkgname': 'libc-ares2', 'pkgver': '1.34.6-1ubuntu0.1'},
    {'osver': '26.04', 'pkgname': 'libcares2', 'pkgver': '1.34.6-1ubuntu0.1'}
];

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_HOLE,
    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, 'libc-ares2 / libcares2');
}

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30 Sep 2026 00:00Current
6.3Medium risk
Vulners AI Score6.3
CVSS 3.17.5
EPSS0.00845
SSVC
2