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OpenAdvisories
Medium · 5.5 CVE-2026-9494 EUVD-2026-44910GHSA-4m5m-x42p-vrwg

ubuntu-pro-client Information Disclosure via Cleartext Bearer Token Exposure in Process Command Line

Published Jul 16, 2026 · Updated Jul 16, 2026 · Assigned by canonical

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.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Canonical ubuntu-pro-client (ubuntu-advantage-tools) < 37.3 37.3
Canonical Ubuntu 26.04 LTS — 37.2ubuntu0.1
Canonical Ubuntu 24.04 LTS — 37.2ubuntu~24.04.1
Canonical Ubuntu 22.04 LTS — 37.2ubuntu~22.04.1
Canonical Ubuntu 20.04 LTS — 37.1ubuntu0~20.04.1
Canonical Ubuntu 18.04 LTS — 37.1ubuntu0~18.04.1
Canonical Ubuntu 16.04 LTS — 37.1ubuntu0~16.04.1
Canonical Ubuntu 14.04 LTS — 19.7ubuntu0.1

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS ubuntu-advantage-tools 37.2ubuntu0.1 USN-8555-1
Ubuntu 25.10 ubuntu-advantage-tools No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS ubuntu-advantage-tools 37.2ubuntu~24.04.1 USN-8555-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS ubuntu-advantage-tools 37.2ubuntu~22.04.1 USN-8555-1
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS ubuntu-advantage-tools 37.1ubuntu0~20.04.1 USN-8555-1
Show 3 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS ubuntu-advantage-tools 37.1ubuntu0~18.04.1 USN-8555-1
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS ubuntu-advantage-tools 37.1ubuntu0~16.04.1 USN-8555-1
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS ubuntu-advantage-tools 19.7ubuntu0.1 USN-8555-1

Advisories 2

References