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Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-18743

🗓️ 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00Reported by TenableType 
nessus
 nessus
🔗 www.tenable.com👁 8 Views

Heap metadata corruption in popt via crafted config causing denial of service.

Related
Refs
Code
ReporterTitlePublishedViews
Family
cve
CVE
CVE-2026-18743
1 Sep 202600:57
cve
cvelist
Cvelist
CVE-2026-18743 Popt-devel: popt-static: short realloc in poptconfigfiletostring
1 Sep 202600:57
cvelist
debiancve
Debian CVE
CVE-2026-18743
1 Sep 202600:57
debiancve
euvd
EUVD
EUVD-2026-68918
1 Sep 202600:57
euvd
nvd
NVD
CVE-2026-18743
1 Sep 202602:16
nvd
osv
OSV
AZL-98234 CVE-2026-18743 affecting package popt 1.19-1
1 Sep 202602:16
osv
osv
OSV
AZL-98565 CVE-2026-18743 affecting package rsync 3.4.3-1
1 Sep 202602:16
osv
osv
OSV
DEBIAN-CVE-2026-18743
1 Sep 202602:16
osv
osv
OSV
ECHO-0994-B63C-BB57
2 Sep 202621:27
osv
osv
OSV
RHSA-2026:56984 Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update
20 Aug 202610:20
osv
Rows per page
#%NASL_MIN_LEVEL 80900
##
# (C) Tenable, Inc.
##

include('compat.inc');

if (description)
{
  script_id(342117);
  script_version("1.2");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2026/09/02");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2026-18743");

  script_name(english:"Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-18743");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"synopsis", value:
"The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be
patched.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"description", value:
"The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied
patch available.

  - A flaw was found in popt. This vulnerability allows an attacker to provide specially crafted configuration
    content to a host, which, when loaded, can lead to a small memory corruption issue. This occurs because of
    an error in how the `poptConfigFileToString` function reallocates memory for buffers. Successful
    exploitation could result in heap metadata corruption, potentially causing the affected process to become
    unavailable (denial of service). (CVE-2026-18743)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2026-18743");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"solution", value:
"There is no known solution at this time.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"agent", value:"unix");
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P");
  script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:U/RL:U/RC:C");
  script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L");
  script_set_cvss3_temporal_vector("CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:U/RC:C");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cvss_score_source", value:"CVE-2026-18743");

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

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2026/09/01");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2026/09/01");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:centos:centos:7");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:centos:centos:8");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:popt");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:popt-devel");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:popt-static");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:popt");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:popt-devel");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:popt-static");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"generated_plugin", value:"current");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_family(english:"Misc.");

  script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2026 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");

  script_dependencies("ssh_get_info2.nasl", "set_linux_os_id.nasl");
  script_require_keys("Host/cpu", "Host/local_checks_enabled", "global_settings/vendor_unpatched", "Host/OS/identifier");
  script_require_ports("Host/OS/CentOS Linux-7", "Host/OS/CentOS Linux-8", "Host/OS/Red Hat Enterprise Linux-10", "Host/OS/Red Hat Enterprise Linux-6", "Host/OS/Red Hat Enterprise Linux-7", "Host/OS/Red Hat Enterprise Linux-8", "Host/OS/Red Hat Enterprise Linux-9");

  exit(0);
}

if (!get_kb_item("global_settings/vendor_unpatched")) exit(0, "Unpatched Vulnerabilities Detection not active.");
if (!get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled")) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED);
if (empty_or_null(get_one_kb_item("Host/CentOS/rpm-list")) && empty_or_null(get_one_kb_item("Host/RedHat/rpm-list"))) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING);

include('linux_unpatched.inc');

var distro_constraints_array = {
  "CentOS Linux-8": {
    "package_manager": "rpm-list",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "8",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "popt"},
          {"reference": "popt-devel"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Red Hat Enterprise Linux-10": {
    "package_manager": "rpm-list",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "10",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "popt"},
          {"reference": "popt-devel"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Red Hat Enterprise Linux-8": {
    "package_manager": "rpm-list",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "8",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "popt"},
          {"reference": "popt-devel"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Red Hat Enterprise Linux-9": {
    "package_manager": "rpm-list",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "9",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "popt"},
          {"reference": "popt-devel"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "CentOS Linux-7": {
    "package_manager": "rpm-list",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "7",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "popt"},
          {"reference": "popt-devel"},
          {"reference": "popt-static"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Red Hat Enterprise Linux-6": {
    "package_manager": "rpm-list",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "6",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "popt"},
          {"reference": "popt-devel"},
          {"reference": "popt-static"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Red Hat Enterprise Linux-7": {
    "package_manager": "rpm-list",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "7",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "popt"},
          {"reference": "popt-devel"},
          {"reference": "popt-static"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
};

var distro_constraints_values = linux_unpatched::get_distro_constraints(distro_constraints_arr:distro_constraints_array);
if (empty_or_null(distro_constraints_values)) audit(AUDIT_HOST_NOT, 'affected');

var third_party_support = get_kb_item('Host/OS/extended-third-party');
if (!empty_or_null(third_party_support)) {
    var third_party_vendors = distro_constraints_values['third_party'];
    if (!empty_or_null(third_party_vendors)) {
        var vendor;
        foreach vendor (third_party_vendors) {
            if (vendor == third_party_support) exit(0, 'A third party management patch is available for this vulnerability from ' + vendor + '.\n');
        }
    }
}

var report = linux_unpatched::check_unpatched_constraints(distro_constraints_values:distro_constraints_values);

if (!empty_or_null(report))
{
  security_report_v4(
      port       : 0,
      severity   : SECURITY_HOLE,
      extra      : report
  );
  exit(0);
}
else
{
  audit(AUDIT_HOST_NOT, 'affected');
}

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02 Sep 2026 00:00Current
5.5Medium risk
Vulners AI Score5.5
CVSS 3.12.5
EPSS0.00124
SSVC
8