Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-2219

DoS in Debian Dpkg 1.21.18 – 1.21.23

Published
07 March 2026
Modified
02 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0042 35th percentile
Risk Priority 57 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-2219 is a high-severity Infinite Loop (CWE-835) vulnerability in Debian Dpkg. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked at the 35th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2026-2219 is a vulnerability in dpkg-deb, a component of dpkg, the Debian package management system. It stems from improper validation of the end of the data stream during decompression of zstd-compressed .deb archives, which can trigger a denial of service via an infinite loop that consumes CPU resources (CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition). The issue was published on 2026-03-07 and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability over the network with low attack complexity and no user interaction or privileges required. By providing a specially crafted zstd-compressed .deb archive for extraction via dpkg-deb, the attacker induces an infinite decompression loop, resulting in high availability impact through sustained CPU exhaustion, while confidentiality and integrity remain unaffected.

Mitigation is provided through a patch in the dpkg Git repository at commit 6610297a62c0780dd0e80b0e302ef64fdcc9d313. Further details, including the bug report and resolution, are documented in the Debian bug tracker at https://bugs.debian.org/1129722. Security practitioners should update affected dpkg installations promptly.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

It was discovered that dpkg-deb (a component of dpkg, the Debian package management system) does not properly validate the end of the data stream when uncompressing a zstd-compressed .deb archive, which may result in denial of service (infinite loop spinning…

more

the CPU).

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impact
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities that can cause an application or system to crash and deny availability to users.
T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service Impact
Adversaries may perform Endpoint Denial of Service (DoS) attacks to degrade or block the availability of services to users.
T1499.003 Application Exhaustion Flood Impact
Adversaries may target resource intensive features of applications to cause a denial of service (DoS), denying availability to those applications.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-6297Same product: Debian Dpkg
CVE-2023-2952Same vendor: Debian
CVE-2025-38727Same vendor: Debian
CVE-2025-38001Same vendor: Debian
CVE-2025-38588Same vendor: Debian
CVE-2025-37859Same vendor: Debian
CVE-2025-38587Same vendor: Debian
CVE-2023-45363Same vendor: Debian
CVE-2023-52635Same vendor: Debian
CVE-2023-2879Same vendor: Debian

Affected Assets

debian
dpkg
1.21.18 — 1.21.23 · 1.22.0 — 1.22.22 · 1.23.0 — 1.23.6

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation can discover unreachable loop exit conditions through static analysis, fuzzing, or execution tracing.

Flaw remediation processes identify and correct infinite-loop defects reported from testing or operations.

Requiring documented development processes and secure coding standards reduces introduction of loops whose termination conditions are unreachable.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices (reviews, testing, static analysis) directly prevent introduction of infinite-loop defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Static analysis and vuln scanning during asset assessment can detect unreachable loop exits.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing can uncover infinite-loop conditions before release.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates practices that can detect and prevent infinite-loop defects.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify loop-termination rules, indirectly reducing the weakness.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly address loop termination and prevent infinite loops.

none

Secure architecture principles encourage designs that avoid unreachable exit conditions.

none

Change management can require review of loop logic when code is modified.

References