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CVE-2026-90954: the affected product Security Vulnerability (CVSS 7.8)

CVE-2026-90954 is a high severity security vulnerability in the affected product with a CVSS score of 7.8. Apply the vendor fix and confirm exposure on internet facing and business critical assets first.

Last updated: Oct 14, 2026

Quick answer

Direct answer

CVE-2026-90954 is a high severity security vulnerability in the affected product with a CVSS score of 7.8. Apply the vendor fix and confirm exposure on internet facing and business critical assets first.

Risk scores

CVSS base score
7.8HIGH
EPSS probability
0.20%
Higher than 9 percent of all CVEs
CISA KEV
Not listed
CVSS metricWhat it means
Attack vector (AV:L)Local access needed
Attack complexity (AC:L)Low complexity
Privileges required (PR:N)No privileges required
User interaction (UI:R)A user must take an action
Scope (S:U)Scope unchanged
Confidentiality (C:H)High confidentiality impact
Integrity (I:H)High integrity impact
Availability (A:H)High availability impact

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

About the affected product

CVE-2026-90954 affects the affected product. Before acting, confirm where the affected product runs in your estate, who owns it and whether it is reachable from the internet, because exposure decides real risk more than the score alone.

What the flaw is

In plain terms: A flaw was found in BusyBox's dpkg-deb archive extraction. The ar archive handler flushes deferred symlinks after each archive member, unlike the tar, cpio, and unzip handlers which flush once after the last member. A specially crafted .deb archive with two data.tar members can exploit this ordering: the first member declares a symlink pointing to an absolute path (e.g., '/'), which is deferred as unsafe but flushed after the first member. The second member declares a regular file whose path traverses the now-live symlink, resulting in a file being written outside the intended extraction directory. This could allow an attacker to write arbitrary files to arbitrary locations when a user extracts a crafted .deb package.

Based on its CVSS vector, the flaw needs local or adjacent access, needs no login, and relies on a user taking an action. Apply the vendor fix and confirm exposure on internet facing and business critical assets first.

Affected versions and timeline

FieldDetail
Productthe affected product
Affected versionsSee the vendor advisory under Technical References
PublishedOct 14, 2026
Last modifiedOct 14, 2026
Added to CISA KEVNot listed
Assigning CNAsecalert@redhat.com

How to detect it

  • Inventory every instance of the affected product and record the running version against the affected range above.
  • Check external attack surface scans for internet facing instances of the component.
  • Review logs on affected systems for unusual requests, errors or new processes around the vulnerable function.
  • Confirm with an authenticated vulnerability scan once your scanner has a check for this CVE.

How to fix it

  • Apply the fixed version of the affected product named in the vendor advisory.
  • If patching must wait, restrict network access to the affected service and put it behind authentication or a web application firewall rule.
  • Rescan after the change to prove the exposure is gone, then close the ticket.

CTEM action plan

CTEM stageWhat to do for this CVE
ScopeAdd every business service that depends on the affected product to the current CTEM cycle.
DiscoverFind all instances, including shadow and cloud deployments, and record versions and exposure.
PrioritizeRank using EPSS and CVSS together with asset exposure and business impact.
ValidateConfirm the flaw is reachable and exploitable in your environment and that compensating controls work.
MobilizeAssign the fix to the asset owner with a due date matched to the priority, then verify closure.

CWE References

Technical References

Frequently asked questions

CVE-2026-90954 is a high severity security vulnerability in the affected product with a CVSS score of 7.8. Apply the vendor fix and confirm exposure on internet facing and business critical assets first.

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