CVE-2026-85498

Full vulnerability record from the local CVENow database.
Description

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).
Severity
LOW
CVSS score
3.5 (v3.1)
Vulnerability status
Awaiting Analysis
Source identifier
[email protected]
Published
2026-10-29 09:17:08.400000
Last modified
2026-10-30 02:17:09.967000
View original CVE JSON
{
  "id": "CVE-2026-85498",
  "sourceIdentifier": "[email protected]",
  "published": "2026-10-29T09:17:08.400",
  "lastModified": "2026-10-30T02:17:09.967",
  "vulnStatus": "Awaiting Analysis",
  "cveTags": [],
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "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)."
    }
  ],
  "affected": [
    {
      "source": "[email protected]",
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "vendor": "Red Hat",
          "product": "Red Hat Hardened Images",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "collectionURL": "https://catalog.redhat.com/software/containers/",
          "packageName": "polkit-main",
          "cpes": [
            "cpe:/a:redhat:hummingbird:1"
          ],
          "versions": [
            {
              "version": "127-5.1.hum1",
              "lessThan": "*",
              "versionType": "rpm",
              "status": "unaffected"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Red Hat",
          "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
          "packageName": "polkit",
          "cpes": [
            "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10"
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Red Hat",
          "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
          "packageName": "polkit-pkla-compat",
          "cpes": [
            "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10"
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Red Hat",
          "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
          "packageName": "polkit",
          "cpes": [
            "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6"
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Red Hat",
          "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
          "packageName": "polkit-gnome",
          "cpes": [
            "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6"
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Red Hat",
          "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
          "packageName": "polkit",
          "cpes": [
            "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7"
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Red Hat",
          "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
          "packageName": "polkit-kde",
          "cpes": [
            "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7"
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Red Hat",
          "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
          "packageName": "polkit-pkla-compat",
          "cpes": [
            "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7"
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Red Hat",
          "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
          "packageName": "polkit-qt",
          "cpes": [
            "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7"
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Red Hat",
          "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
          "packageName": "polkit",
          "cpes": [
            "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8"
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Red Hat",
          "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
          "packageName": "polkit-pkla-compat",
          "cpes": [
            "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8"
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Red Hat",
          "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
          "packageName": "polkit",
          "cpes": [
            "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9"
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Red Hat",
          "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
          "packageName": "polkit-pkla-compat",
          "cpes": [
            "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9"
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Red Hat",
          "product": "Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
          "packageName": "openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8",
          "cpes": [
            "cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:4"
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Red Hat",
          "product": "Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
          "packageName": "openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9",
          "cpes": [
            "cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:4"
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Red Hat",
          "product": "Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
          "packageName": "openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9",
          "cpes": [
            "cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:5"
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "metrics": {
    "cvssMetricV31": [
      {
        "source": "[email protected]",
        "type": "Secondary",
        "cvssData": {
          "version": "3.1",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L",
          "baseScore": 3.5,
          "baseSeverity": "LOW",
          "attackVector": "ADJACENT_NETWORK",
          "attackComplexity": "LOW",
          "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
          "userInteraction": "NONE",
          "scope": "UNCHANGED",
          "confidentialityImpact": "NONE",
          "integrityImpact": "NONE",
          "availabilityImpact": "LOW"
        },
        "exploitabilityScore": 2.1,
        "impactScore": 1.4
      }
    ],
    "ssvcV203": [
      {
        "source": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
        "ssvcData": {
          "timestamp": "2026-10-29T12:23:55.394570Z",
          "id": "CVE-2026-85498",
          "options": [
            {
              "exploitation": "none"
            },
            {
              "automatable": "no"
            },
            {
              "technicalImpact": "partial"
            }
          ],
          "role": "CISA Coordinator",
          "version": "2.0.3"
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "weaknesses": [
    {
      "source": "[email protected]",
      "type": "Secondary",
      "description": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "CWE-125"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "references": [
    {
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:66287",
      "source": "[email protected]"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-85498",
      "source": "[email protected]"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2528347",
      "source": "[email protected]"
    }
  ]
}