(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.
"}],"value":"(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."}],"metrics":[{"cvssV3_1":{"attackComplexity":"LOW","attackVector":"LOCAL","availabilityImpact":"NONE","baseScore":7.9,"baseSeverity":"HIGH","confidentialityImpact":"HIGH","integrityImpact":"HIGH","privilegesRequired":"HIGH","scope":"CHANGED","userInteraction":"NONE","vectorString":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N","version":"3.1"},"format":"CVSS","scenarios":[{"lang":"en","value":"GENERAL"}]}],"problemTypes":[{"descriptions":[{"cweId":"CWE-636","description":"CWE-636: Not Failing Securely (Failing Open)","lang":"en","type":"CWE"},{"cweId":"CWE-252","description":"CWE-252: Unchecked Return Value","lang":"en","type":"CWE"}]}],"providerMetadata":{"dateUpdated":"2026-09-04T12:59:59.743Z","orgId":"5a6e4751-2f3f-4070-9419-94fb35b644e8","shortName":"CIRCL"},"references":[{"tags":["release-notes","patch"],"url":"https://github.com/ChewKeanHo/software-actualizer/releases/tag/v1.2.1"},{"tags":["patch"],"url":"https://github.com/ChewKeanHo/software-actualizer/commit/50a0932ac705635d9af62955c353e7c6df003a61.patch"},{"url":"https://github.com/ChewKeanHo/software-actualizer/blob/v1.2.0/Shell/debian-minbase-install.sh#L788"},{"tags":["technical-description"],"url":"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22169659"}],"solutions":[{"lang":"en","supportingMedia":[{"base64":false,"type":"text/html","value":"Upgrade to Actualizer v1.2.1 or later. The fixed version validates that the generated password hash has the expected yescrypt prefix and performs a pre-flight check for yescrypt support before building.
"}],"value":"Upgrade to Actualizer v1.2.1 or later. The fixed version validates that the generated password hash has the expected yescrypt prefix and performs a pre-flight check for yescrypt support before building."}],"source":{"discovery":"UNKNOWN"},"x_generator":{"engine":"Vulnogram 0.2.0"}}},"cveMetadata":{"assignerOrgId":"5a6e4751-2f3f-4070-9419-94fb35b644e8","assignerShortName":"CIRCL","cveId":"CVE-2026-85649","datePublished":"2026-09-04T12:59:59.743Z","dateReserved":"2026-09-04T12:58:10.268Z","dateUpdated":"2026-09-04T17:59:26.205Z","state":"PUBLISHED"},"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2"},"nvd":{"publishedDate":"2026-09-04 13:20:11","lastModifiedDate":"2026-09-04 18:18:05","problem_types":["CWE-252","CWE-636","CWE-636 CWE-636: Not Failing Securely (Failing Open)","CWE-252 CWE-252: Unchecked Return Value"],"metrics":{"cvssMetricV31":[{"source":"5a6e4751-2f3f-4070-9419-94fb35b644e8","type":"Secondary","cvssData":{"version":"3.1","vectorString":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N","baseScore":7.9,"baseSeverity":"HIGH","attackVector":"LOCAL","attackComplexity":"LOW","privilegesRequired":"HIGH","userInteraction":"NONE","scope":"CHANGED","confidentialityImpact":"HIGH","integrityImpact":"HIGH","availabilityImpact":"NONE"},"exploitabilityScore":1.5,"impactScore":5.8}],"ssvcV203":[{"source":"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0","ssvcData":{"timestamp":"2026-09-04T17:59:16.199359Z","id":"CVE-2026-85649","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"role":"CISA Coordinator","version":"2.0.3"}}]},"configurations":[]},"legacy_mitre":{"record":{"CveYear":"2026","CveId":"85649","Ordinal":"1","Title":"CVE-2026-85649","CVE":"CVE-2026-85649","Year":"2026"},"notes":[{"CveYear":"2026","CveId":"85649","Ordinal":"1","NoteData":"(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.","Type":"Description","Title":"CVE-2026-85649"}]}}}