---
id: CVE-2026-88837
title: >-
  BusyBox httpd treats yescrypt ($y$) password hashes as plaintext during Basic
  Authentication, inverting the authentication check.
summary: >-
  BusyBox httpd treats yescrypt ($y$) password hashes as plaintext during Basic
  Authentication, inverting the authentication check.
severity: medium
cvss: 6.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N'
cwe:
  - CWE-305
vendor: Red Hat
product: busybox-main
affected:
  - busybox-main (all versions)
published: '2026-09-23'
updated: '2026-09-25'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-25T23:16:54.793'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-88837'
references:
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:72111'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-88837'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2531351'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-88837.json
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-88837'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-88837'
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-09-23T18:00:23.871775Z'
epss: 0.00225
epssPercentile: 0.1173
ingestedAt: '2026-09-23T18:29:33.146Z'
patched:
  - hardened_images
---

## Overview

BusyBox httpd treats yescrypt ($y$) password hashes as plaintext during Basic Authentication, inverting the authentication check.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.

## Vendor advisories

- **Red Hat VEX** · Moderate · affected: Red Hat Hardened Images · no fix planned: Red Hat Hardened Images · updated 2026-09-24 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-88837.json)
- **RHSA-2026:72111** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Hardened Images · released 2026-09-25 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:72111)