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[USN-8202-3] jq regression

Posted on 21 May 2026
Ubuntu Security

==========================================================================Ubuntu Security Notice USN-8202-3
May 21, 2026

jq regression
==========================================================================
A security issue affects these releases of Ubuntu and its derivatives:

- Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
- Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

Summary:

USN-8202-1 introduced a regression in jq

Software Description:
- jq: lightweight and flexible command-line JSON processor

Details:

USN-8202-1 fixed vulnerabilities in jq. The update caused a regression
for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. This update fixes the problem.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Original advisory details:

It was discovered that jq did not correctly handle certain string
concatenations. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial
of service or execute arbitrary code. This issue was addressed in Ubuntu
16.04 LTS, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu
24.04 LTS and Ubuntu 25.10. (CVE-2026-32316)

It was discovered that jq did not correctly handle recursion in certain
circumstances. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial
of service. (CVE-2026-33947)

It was discovered that jq did not correctly handle improperly terminated
strings. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of
service or execute arbitrary code. This issue was addressed in Ubuntu 16.04
LTS, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
and Ubuntu 25.10. (CVE-2026-33948)

It was discovered that jq did not correctly handle checking certain
variable types. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial
of service or leak sensitive information. This issue was addressed in
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS,
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and Ubuntu 25.10. (CVE-2026-39956)

It was discovered that jq did not correctly handle certain string
formatting. An attacker could possibly use this issue to leak sensitive
information or cause a denial of service. (CVE-2026-39979)

It was discovered that jq used a fixed seed for hash table operations. An
attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service. This
issue was addressed in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04
LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and Ubuntu 25.10. (CVE-2026-40164)

Update instructions:

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following
package versions:

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
jq 1.6-1ubuntu0.20.04.1+esm3
Available with Ubuntu Pro
libjq-dev 1.6-1ubuntu0.20.04.1+esm3
Available with Ubuntu Pro
libjq1 1.6-1ubuntu0.20.04.1+esm3
Available with Ubuntu Pro

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
jq 1.5+dfsg-2ubuntu0.1~esm3
Available with Ubuntu Pro
libjq-dev 1.5+dfsg-2ubuntu0.1~esm3
Available with Ubuntu Pro
libjq1 1.5+dfsg-2ubuntu0.1~esm3
Available with Ubuntu Pro

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

References:
https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8202-3
https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8202-2
https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8202-1
CVE-2026-40164, https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/jq/+bug/2152052

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