Skip to content
Noroxi
CVE.org (no NVD analysis yet)· CNA redhat

CVE-2026-88842: Busybox: busybox: dpkg stale field_start pointer causes out-of-bounds read and status file corruption

LowCVSS 3.3 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 13/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.15% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. No account or password is required. A user must open a link or visit a page. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: azl3 busybox 1.36.1-27 on Azure Linux 3.0 Release Notes; azl3 busybox 1.36.1-28 on Azure Linux 3.0 Release Notes.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to azl3 busybox 1.36.1-27 on Azure Linux 3.0 Release Notes; azl3 busybox 1.36.1-28 on Azure Linux 3.0 Release Notes or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

A flaw was found in BusyBox dpkg. The write_status_file() function does not reset a field cursor between package stanzas. When two packages are removed in a single invocation and the first stanza is larger than the second, the second package stanza can be dropped from the status file, causing limited data corruption.

Published
Oct 14, 2026
Updated
Oct 15, 2026
EPSS
0.1% · 4th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

13

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
13 / 40 · 3.3 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.1%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · redhat
3.3
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2026-88842

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

One daily email digest (06:00 UTC); connect a webhook for KEV listings and weaponized exploits every 10 minutes on paid plans, on the hour on the free plan.

Your free account also gets you

  • CVE alerts: add the products and versions you run, get the new CVEs that affect them
  • Uptime monitoring: 1 site, instant email when it goes down
  • Add your domain: subdomains and takeover risk scanned every week (1 domain)
  • 10 scans an hour on the security tools, at most 30 a day (3 a day without an account), an API key and MCP
  • All your scans in one panel: findings, what changed in the last scan, a report per domain or per client (PDF, share link)
All free tools

Sign up with email · Have an account? Sign in

Free account, no card. Unfollow any time.

Don't want an account? Get "Exploited this week" by email every MondayDon't want an account? RSS feed for red hat records
Is your version affected? Check it

Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

We use this product, ask for help

Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

—

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (redhat). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Red Hat Red Hat Hardened Images

    • 1.37.0-9.4.hum1 and laternot affected · rpm

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12busyboxfrom 0—
openSUSE:Tumbleweedbusyboxbefore 1.38.0-4.11.38.0-4.1
Red Hat:hummingbird:1busyboxbefore 0:1.37.0-9.4.hum10:1.37.0-9.4.hum1
Red Hat:hummingbird:1busybox-petitbootbefore 0:1.37.0-9.4.hum10:1.37.0-9.4.hum1
Red Hat:hummingbird:1busybox-sharedbefore 0:1.37.0-9.4.hum10:1.37.0-9.4.hum1

Same product

red hat: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-90954Busybox: busybox: dpkg-deb extraction-root escape via per-ar-member deferred symlink flush
    31Monitor
  • CVE-2026-96512Sudo: sudo: tz environment variable allows bypass of notbefore/notafter time-based authorization
    31Monitor
  • CVE-2026-78410Util-linux: util-linux: restricted bind mounts do not pin the source, allowing x-mount.owner/group/mode redirection
    31Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-88838Oct 13, 2026 · Busybox: busybox: non-root mount option filter bypass allows clearing fstab security restrictions
    22Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-88829Oct 14, 2026 · Busybox: busybox: http request smuggling via pipelined requests in httpd reverse proxy
    28Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-85498Oct 29, 2026 · Polkit: regression in cve-2026-4897 fix (polkit read_cookie()) - stack buffer underflow
    14Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
azl3 busybox 1.36.1-27 on Azure Linux 3.0Release NotesMicrosoft (MSRC)
azl3 busybox 1.36.1-28 on Azure Linux 3.0Release NotesMicrosoft (MSRC)
opensuse:busybox1.38.0-4.1 · openSUSE:TumbleweedPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:busybox0:1.37.0-9.4.hum1 · Red Hat:hummingbird:1Package registry (OSV)
red hat:busybox-petitboot0:1.37.0-9.4.hum1 · Red Hat:hummingbird:1Package registry (OSV)
red hat:busybox-shared0:1.37.0-9.4.hum1 · Red Hat:hummingbird:1Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

  1. Published
  2. Fix recorded+3 d
  3. TodayNov 13, 2026+30 d
EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

  • CVE-2026-8883521 days apartBusybox: busybox: dpkg read_package_field() steps past nul terminator, causing out-of-bounds read on malformed .deb packages
    24Monitor
  • CVE-2026-1500379 days apartBinutils: gnu binutils: heap-buffer-overflow in linker leads to information disclosure and denial of service
    22Monitor
  • CVE-2026-4367120 days apartLibxpm: libxpm: denial of service via out-of-bounds read in xpm file parsing
    22Monitor
  • CVE-2026-8884021 days apartBusybox: busybox: tls ssl_server reads one byte out of bounds when parsing truncated clienthello
    21Monitor
  • CVE-2026-8787535 days apartCups: openprinting cups: heap out-of-bounds read in cupsutf32toutf8() via missing source-length bound
    17Monitor
  • CVE-2026-8549815 days apartPolkit: regression in cve-2026-4897 fix (polkit read_cookie()) - stack buffer underflow
    14Monitor

Not on record for this CVE: patch commit or PR link · public bounty program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • A user must open a link or visit a page.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
low · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
none
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
Low
Availability impact
None

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-125 · Out-of-bounds Read

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

nvd-secondary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

ATT&CK techniques

—

References

Show all references (2 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records