Medium severity · published Jul 16, 2026
CVE-2026-9494
ubuntu-pro-client Information Disclosure via Cleartext Bearer Token Exposure in Process Command Line
5.5
CVSS
0.1%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
An information disclosure vulnerability exists in Canonical ubuntu-pro-client (formerly ubuntu-advantage-tools). The client validates Ubuntu Pro APT credentials by executing /usr/lib/apt/apt-helper using the download-file command. During this process, the secret bearer token is embedded directly in the cleartext URL component passed via the command-line arguments (argv), resulting in a URL format such as https://bearer:<token>@esm.ubuntu.com/.../. On systems utilizing a default-mounted /proc file system where process-hiding mitigations (such as hidepid) are disabled, an unprivileged local attacker can monitor system processes and read the sensitive bearer token directly from /proc/cmdline while the helper process is actively running. This leaked token can subsequently be used to gain unauthorized access to the victim's Ubuntu Pro or Expanded Security Maintenance (ESM) repositories.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.1% · higher than 4% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
U1
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS · Canonical
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
U1
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS · Canonical
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
U1
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS · Canonical
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
U2
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS · Canonical
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
U2
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS · Canonical
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
U2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS · Canonical
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
U2
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS · Canonical
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
Affected product
U1
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
Canonical
More from Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
9.0
CVE-2026-11386
ubuntu-pro-client Input Validation Vulnerability Leading to Arbitrary APT Directive Injection and Remote Code Execution