CVE-2026-88837
Description
BusyBox httpd treats yescrypt ($y$) password hashes as plaintext during Basic Authentication, inverting the authentication check.
Statement
Fedora 44 uses yescrypt ($y$) as the default password hashing algorithm, so any Fedora system administrator who configures BusyBox httpd with inline password hashes will produce vulnerable configurations by default. However, BusyBox httpd is not used as a web server on Fedora in any standard deployment.
Mitigation
Do not use BusyBox httpd for password-protected resources. If it must be used, configure authentication with SHA-512 ($6$) hashes, which are correctly detected. Upstream should update the hash detection logic to recognize the $y$ prefix.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 6.5 | N/A | 6.5 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | High |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | Low | N/A | Low |
| Availability Impact | None | N/A | None |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Access Control
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism
Acknowledgements
Red Hat would like to thank Shubham Raj (Causal Security) for reporting this issue.
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