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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-90954: BusyBox's dpkg-deb archive extraction

Affects busyboxSource GCVE Database

0
Authoritative record:CVE-2026-90954· High 7.8

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High.

Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 01:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
7.8High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 14 Oct 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq Mirage: no evidence on record.

    No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

What to do

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
Ubuntu 26.10busyboxpkg:deb/ubuntu/busybox?arch=source&distro=stonkingOther threatsAffected
  • 1:1.37.0-7ubuntu1 – 1:1.38.0-3ubuntu4
6 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSbusyboxpkg:deb/ubuntu/busybox?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • =1:1.37.0-4ubuntu1
  • =1:1.37.0-7ubuntu1
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSbusyboxpkg:deb/ubuntu/busybox?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threatsAffected
  • 1:1.36.1-3ubuntu1 – 1:1.36.1-6ubuntu3.1
4 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 22.04 LTSbusyboxpkg:deb/ubuntu/busybox?arch=source&distro=jammyOther threatsAffected
  • 1:1.30.1-6ubuntu3 – 1:1.30.1-7ubuntu3.1
5 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 20.04 LTSbusyboxpkg:deb/ubuntu/busybox?arch=source&distro=focalOther threatsAffected
  • 1:1.30.1-4ubuntu4 – 1:1.30.1-4ubuntu6.5
8 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTSbusyboxpkg:deb/ubuntu/busybox?arch=source&distro=esm-infra/bionicOther threatsAffected
  • 1:1.22.0-19ubuntu2 – 1:1.27.2-2ubuntu3.4+esm1
10 affected builds
Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Do not use BusyBox dpkg-deb to extract untrusted .deb packages. Instead, use the Debian reference dpkg-deb implementation, which correctly treats the extraction root as a boundary and is not vulnerable. If BusyBox dpkg-deb must be used, inspect .deb archives for multiple data.tar members before extraction, as legitimate .deb packages contain exactly one data.tar member. Avoid extracting untrusted .deb files with BusyBox dpkg-deb until a fix is available.

Description

A vulnerability in BusyBox's dpkg-deb archive extraction allows crafted .deb packages with multiple data.tar members to write files outside the intended extraction directory. This occurs because the ar archive handler flushes deferred symlinks after each archive member, enabling a symlink pointing to an absolute path to be activated prematurely. An attacker can exploit this to write arbitrary files to arbitrary locations during extraction.

References

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