Bug 2531355 (CVE-2026-88842)

Summary: CVE-2026-88842 busybox: busybox: dpkg stale field_start pointer causes out-of-bounds read and status file corruption
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security <prodsec-ir-bot>
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Priority: low    
Version: unspecifiedCC: security-response-team
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in BusyBox dpkg. The write_status_file() function does not reset a field cursor between package stanzas. When two packages are removed in a single invocation and the first stanza is larger than the second, the second package stanza can be dropped from the status file, causing limited data corruption.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-09-10 09:53:49 UTC 
A vulnerability exists in the BusyBox dpkg applet in archival/dpkg.c. The write_status_file() function does not reset the field_start cursor between package stanzas. When two packages are removed in a single invocation and the first stanza is larger than the second, the stale cursor causes read_package_field() to read past the second stanza's buffer.

Observable consequences include: silent data corruption (the second package stanza vanishes from the status file), potential heap information leakage, and crashes under ASan.