VulnerabilityPublished 7 Mar 2026Updated 9 Mar 2026

CVE-2026-2219: Debian dpkg · Infinite Loop

Affects Debian dpkgSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 37% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 7 Mar 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by 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 29 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Debiandpkg	Affected >=1.21.18 <1.23.6	Fixed in–
Debiandebian/dpkg`pkg:deb/debian/dpkg`Other threats	Affected =1.21.18	Fixed in–

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

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-2219, organizations should first verify the dpkg version in use and upgrade to a patched version once available from Debian or their distribution vendor. Until a patch is released, administrators should implement strict validation and scanning of .deb packages before installation, especially those obtained from untrusted or external sources. Employing network-level controls to restrict access to package repositories and limiting package installation privileges to trusted administrators can reduce exposure. Monitoring system resource usage during package operations can help detect abnormal CPU usage indicative of exploitation attempts. Additionally, organizations should consider isolating package management operations in sandboxed or containerized environments to limit the impact of potential DoS conditions. Regularly reviewing security advisories from Debian and related projects will ensure timely application of fixes. Finally, integrating integrity verification mechanisms such as signed packages and repository metadata validation can help prevent malicious package deployment.

Description

It was discovered that dpkg-deb (a component of dpkg, the Debian package management system) does not properly validate the end of the data stream when uncompressing a zstd-compressed .deb archive, which may result in denial of service (infinite loop spinning the CPU).

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2026-2219 is a denial of service condition caused by an infinite CPU spin during the decompression of maliciously crafted zstd-compressed .deb packages. This can lead to system unresponsiveness or degraded performance, affecting availability of services running on Debian or Debian-based systems. Organizations relying on automated package management or continuous integration/deployment pipelines may experience interruptions or failures, potentially delaying critical updates or deployments. Although the vulnerability does not compromise confidentiality or integrity, the availability impact can be severe in environments where uptime is critical, such as servers, cloud infrastructure, and embedded systems. Attackers could exploit this vulnerability remotely by delivering malicious packages, making it a vector for disruption in supply chain attacks or targeted sabotage. The absence of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the potential for future exploitation. Overall, the vulnerability poses a significant operational risk to organizations using affected dpkg versions worldwide.

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 14 Mar 2026, 20:05 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-835

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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