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Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-85721

🗓️ 19 Sep 2026 00:00:00Reported by TenableType 
nessus
 nessus
🔗 www.tenable.com👁 9 Views

Remote unbounded decompression DoS in AsyncHttpClient (AHC) via small expanding gzip/deflate/snappy.

Related
Refs
Code
ReporterTitlePublishedViews
Family
cgr
Chainguard
CVE-2026-85721 vulnerabilities
19 Sep 202602:54
–cgr
circl
Circl
CVE-2026-85721
22 Sep 202607:00
–circl
cve
CVE
CVE-2026-85721
17 Sep 202615:55
–cve
cvelist
Cvelist
CVE-2026-85721 AsyncHttpClient: Unbounded HTTP/1.1 response decompression enables a decompression-bomb denial of service
17 Sep 202615:55
–cvelist
debiancve
Debian CVE
CVE-2026-85721
17 Sep 202615:55
–debiancve
euvd
EUVD
EUVD-2026-81907
17 Sep 202615:55
–euvd
github
Github Security Blog
AsyncHttpClient's unbounded HTTP/1.1 response decompression enables a decompression-bomb denial of service
17 Sep 202617:18
–github
kitploit
Kitploit
async-http-client-check
20 Sep 202604:46
–kitploit
nvd
NVD
CVE-2026-85721
17 Sep 202616:18
–nvd
osv
OSV
CGA-5QF3-2R6G-554P
18 Sep 202601:12
–osv
Rows per page
#%NASL_MIN_LEVEL 80900
##
# (C) Tenable, Inc.
##

include('compat.inc');

if (description)
{
  script_id(348324);
  script_version("1.4");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2026/09/23");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2026-85721");

  script_name(english:"Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-85721");

  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.

  - The AsyncHttpClient (AHC) library allows Java applications to easily execute HTTP requests and
    asynchronously process HTTP responses. From 2.0.0 until 2.16.1 and 3.0.12, automatic response
    decompression on the HTTP/1.1 path uses ChannelManager.newHttpContentDecompressor() to install
    Http1ContentDecompressor without a cumulative output-size limit. A hostile or compromised server, or an
    attacker who can alter a response in transit, can send a small gzip, deflate, or snappy response that
    expands across chunks until the client exhausts its heap and raises OutOfMemoryError; brotli and zstd are
    also affected when their optional codecs are present. In versions 3.0.8 through 3.0.10, the HTTP/2
    decompressor is also unbounded, so switching protocols does not mitigate the issue on those releases. A
    limit applied to each decode call is insufficient because the response can be delivered as many small
    chunks, so the fixed implementation tracks total decompressed bytes for the whole response. This issue is
    fixed in versions 2.16.1 and 3.0.12. (CVE-2026-85721)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-85721");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-85721");
  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:N/I:N/A:C");
  script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:U/RL:U/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:U/RC:C");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cvss_score_source", value:"CVE-2026-85721");

  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:"2026/09/17");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2026/09/19");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:-:lts");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts");
  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:"cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:async-http-client");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:async-http-client");
  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/Debian Linux-12", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-14.04", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-16.04", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-18.04", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-20.04", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-22.04", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-24.04", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-26.04");

  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/Debian/dpkg-l"))) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING);

include('linux_unpatched.inc');

var distro_constraints_array = {
  "Debian Linux-12": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "12",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "libasync-http-client-java"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-14.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "14.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "async-http-client"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-16.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "16.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "async-http-client"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-18.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "18.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "async-http-client"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-20.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "20.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "async-http-client"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-22.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "22.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "async-http-client"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-24.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "24.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "async-http-client"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-26.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "26.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "async-http-client"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
};

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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23 Sep 2026 00:00Current
6Medium risk
Vulners AI Score6
CVSS 3.17.5
EPSS0.0063
SSVC
9