CVE-2026-40356
Description
A flaw was found in MIT Kerberos 5 (krb5). An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit an integer underflow and an out-of-bounds read vulnerability by calling gss_accept_sec_context() on a system with a NegoEx mechanism registered. This can lead to the process terminating, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
Statement
This Moderate impact denial of service flaw in MIT Kerberos 5 (krb5) allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to trigger an integer underflow and out-of-bounds read. This vulnerability, which can lead to process termination, specifically affects systems where the NegoEx mechanism is registered and gss_accept_sec_context() is called. While Kerberos is a fundamental service, the prerequisite of a registered NegoEx mechanism limits the attack surface.
Mitigation
To mitigate this issue, ensure that the NegoEx mechanism is not registered in the `/etc/gss/mech` configuration file. Removing the corresponding entry from this file will prevent the vulnerable code path from being activated. This action may impact services that rely on the NegoEx GSS-API mechanism. A restart of affected Kerberos-dependent services may be required for the change to take effect.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 5.9 | 7.5 | 5.9 |
| Attack Vector | Network | Network | Network |
| Attack Complexity | High | Low | High |
| Privileges Required | None | None | None |
| User Interaction | None | None | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | None | None |
| Integrity Impact | None | None | None |
| Availability Impact | High | High | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory); DoS: Instability
This weakness will generally lead to undefined behavior and therefore crashes. In the case of overflows involving loop index variables, the likelihood of infinite loops is also high.
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Memory
If the value in question is important to data (as opposed to flow), simple data corruption has occurred. Also, if the wrap around results in other conditions such as buffer overflows, further memory corruption may occur.
Confidentiality,Availability,Access Control
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; Bypass Protection Mechanism
This weakness can sometimes trigger buffer overflows which can be used to execute arbitrary code. This is usually outside the scope of a program's implicit security policy.
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