CVE-2026-109518
High7.7APT RCE via hard link reusetitle from the CVE record
On Debian, Ubuntu, and derivative Linux distributions, an on-path attacker who can manipulate the HTTP traffic (including a malicious mirror or proxy) between an APT client and an archive server triggered by a package install can trick the client into installing an attacker-controlled unverified package and achieve remote code execution with root privileges. The vulnerability is caused by the reuse of hard links and requires the client to follow redirects and retry the download of package files. It requires the client to have a non-zero Acquire::Retries configuration setting; the value 3 is the default starting with Debian 12 (bookworm) and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish), so older releases are unaffected in a default configuration
- CVSS
- 7.7v4.0
- EPSS (exploit probability)
- Unavailable
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
EPSS trendFIRST daily scores, last 90 days
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Learn
Why it happened and what stops it
The weakness (CWE)
How attackers use it (ATT&CK)
Typical for this kind of weakness across CISA KEV exploits (CTID), not specific to this CVE.
How it's exploited
What the attacker gets
Controls that mitigate it (NIST SP 800-53)
- AC-6Least PrivilegeAccess Control · mitigates 2 of these techniques
- CA-7Continuous MonitoringSecurity Assessment and Authorization · mitigates 2 of these techniques
- CM-8System Component InventoryConfiguration Management · mitigates 2 of these techniques
- SC-18Mobile CodeSystem and Communications Protection · mitigates 2 of these techniques
- SI-3Malicious Code ProtectionSystem and Information Integrity · mitigates 2 of these techniques
- SI-4System MonitoringSystem and Information Integrity · mitigates 2 of these techniques