Vulnerability · Published Oct 14, 2026 · Assigned by redhat
CVE-2026-88842Busybox: busybox: dpkg stale field_start pointer causes out-of-bounds read and status file corruption
Low 3.3
In plain English
A low-severity out-of-bounds read in Red Hat Hardened Images from Red Hat. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 5% of all known vulnerabilities).
Severity (CVSS 3.1)3.3Low
Exploit odds (30 days)0.2%top 95.3% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known
Official description
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.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:12 | busybox | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-88842 |
| Debian:13 | busybox | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-88842 |
| Debian:14 | busybox | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-88842 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | busybox | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-88842 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | busybox | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-88842 |
| Ubuntu:26.04:LTS | busybox | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-88842 |
| Ubuntu:26.10 | busybox | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-88842 |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat | Red Hat Hardened Images | see references |
Weakness: CWE-125 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
References
- RHSA-2026:81391 vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-88842 vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHBZ#2531355 issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT