How to reinstall dpkg

Ubuntu dpkg recovery

Recover dpkg status file

cp /var/backups/dpkg.status.0 /var/lib/dpkg/status

Reinstall - dpkg

cd /var/cache/apt/archives/ 
dpkg --force-depends -i dpkg_*.deb

Reinstall - apt

cd /var/cache/apt/archives/
dpkg --force-depends -i apt_*.deb
dpkg --force-depends -i apt-utils_*.deb
apt-get update

Missing files in /var/lib/dpkg/info?

Use dpkg to list installed packages..

dpkg -l | grep ii

Reinstall from output using apt...

dpkg -l | grep ii | awk '{print "apt-get --reinstall -y install", $2}' > /tmp/reinstall

Now, install ucf which may be of importance to installation of kernel or others...

apt-get --reinstall install ucf

Source: http://staff.adams.edu/~cdmiller/posts/Ubuntu-dpkg-recovery/

I found a solution that worked for a user with a related problem...

sudo -i    
mkdir /tmp/dpkg    
cd /tmp/dpkg

#i386 version
wget https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+files/dpkg_1.18.4ubuntu1.1_i386.deb    

or

#amd64 version
wget https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+files/dpkg_1.18.4ubuntu1.1_amd64.deb    

ar x dpkg*.deb data.tar.gz    
tar xfvz data.tar.gz ./usr/bin/dpkg    
sudo cp ./usr/bin/dpkg /usr/bin/    
sudo apt-get update    
sudo apt-get install --reinstall dpkg

Source: https://askubuntu.com/a/474681/562148