A flaw was found in polkit. When processing input that begins with a null byte, an arithmetic error in the authentication agent helper causes an integer underflow during buffer length calculation, resulting in an out-of-bounds memory read. An attacker capable of supplying crafted input can trigger this flaw, potentially causing an application crash and resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
Advisories
Source ID Title
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8762-1 polkit vulnerability
Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.


Workaround

Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the criteria for a mitigation as defined by the Red Hat Product Security team. This flaw remains subject to future review as new information becomes available. Exposure is limited: the defect is reachable only by a local/adjacent low-privileged user interacting with the polkit authentication agent and results at most in a crash (availability) of the affected process.

History

Thu, 29 Oct 2026 13:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Thu, 29 Oct 2026 09:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description No description is available for this CVE. A flaw was found in polkit. When processing input that begins with a null byte, an arithmetic error in the authentication agent helper causes an integer underflow during buffer length calculation, resulting in an out-of-bounds memory read. An attacker capable of supplying crafted input can trigger this flaw, potentially causing an application crash and resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
Title polkit: Regression in CVE-2026-4897 fix (polkit read_cookie()) - stack buffer underflow Polkit: regression in cve-2026-4897 fix (polkit read_cookie()) - stack buffer underflow
First Time appeared Redhat
Redhat enterprise Linux
Redhat hummingbird
Redhat openshift
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:hummingbird:1
cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:4
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9
Vendors & Products Redhat
Redhat enterprise Linux
Redhat hummingbird
Redhat openshift
References

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Polkit Project
Polkit Project polkit
Vendors & Products Polkit Project
Polkit Project polkit

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 12:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description No description is available for this CVE.
Title polkit: Regression in CVE-2026-4897 fix (polkit read_cookie()) - stack buffer underflow
Weaknesses CWE-125
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 3.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L'}

threat_severity

Low


Projects

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: redhat

Published:

Updated: 2026-10-29T12:36:54.191Z

Reserved: 2026-09-04T00:34:12.851Z

Link: CVE-2026-85498

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-10-29T12:30:38.490Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2026-10-29T09:17:08.400

Modified: 2026-10-29T13:17:14.073

Link: CVE-2026-85498

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Low

Publid Date: 2026-09-04T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2026-85498 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-10-29T11:00:16Z

Weaknesses