CVE-2026-9494 An information disclosure vulnerability exists in Canonical ubuntu-pro-client (formerly ubuntu-advantage-tools)
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 and versions
| Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| ubuntu-pro-client (ubuntu-advantage-tools) 37.3 | earliest → < 37.3 | 37.3 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 37.2 | earliest → < 37.2ubuntu0.1 | 37.2ubuntu0.1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | Versions not published | |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | Versions not published | |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | Versions not published | |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | Versions not published | |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | Versions not published | |
| Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 19.7 | earliest → < 19.7ubuntu0.1 | 19.7ubuntu0.1 |