Vulnerability Description
(Holloway) Chew, Kean Ho's Actualizer v1.2.0 and earlier contains a fail-open password validation vulnerability in the Alpha user and root user password loops of Shell/debian-minbase-install.sh. The installer invokes mkpasswd to generate yescrypt password hashes but does not check the command's return value and unconditionally accepts the result. If mkpasswd fails to generate a yescrypt hash, for example because an incompatible mkpasswd implementation or an environment without yescrypt support is used, the resulting password hash variable can be empty and the build proceeds. The resulting image can therefore contain empty password fields for the root and alpha accounts, potentially permitting passwordless authentication depending on the authentication configuration.
CVSS Score
HIGH
Related Weaknesses (CWE)
References
- https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22169659
- https://github.com/ChewKeanHo/software-actualizer/blob/v1.2.0/Shell/debian-minba
- https://github.com/ChewKeanHo/software-actualizer/commit/50a0932ac705635d9af6295
- https://github.com/ChewKeanHo/software-actualizer/releases/tag/v1.2.1
FAQ
What is CVE-2026-85649?
CVE-2026-85649 is a vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.9 (HIGH). (Holloway) Chew, Kean Ho's Actualizer v1.2.0 and earlier contains a fail-open password validation vulnerability in the Alpha user and root user password loops of Shell/debian-minbase-install.sh. The i...
How severe is CVE-2026-85649?
CVE-2026-85649 has been rated HIGH with a CVSS base score of 7.9/10. Review the CVSS metrics above for detailed severity breakdown.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-85649?
Check the references section above for vendor advisories and patch information. Review vendor security bulletins for remediation guidance.