CVE-2026-66034

Description

A missing bounds check in the libssh2 publickey subsystem allows malicious SSH servers to trigger a client-side out-of-bounds read, leaking heap pointers that could enable security bypasses, denial of service, or code execution.

Statement

This Moderate impact flaw in libssh2 allows a malicious SSH server to trigger an out-of-bounds read on a connecting client. While requiring user interaction to connect to a compromised server and having high attack complexity, successful exploitation could leak heap pointers, potentially aiding in ASLR bypass and leading to arbitrary code execution or denial of service on Red Hat Hardened Images.

Mitigation

To mitigate this, strictly avoid connecting to untrusted SSH servers and enforce this policy using outbound network firewalls to block unknown IP addresses. For defense-in-depth, utilize OS-level memory protections and service sandboxing to contain any accidental exposure.

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 HatNVDcve.org
Base Score5.9N/A7.5
Attack VectorNetworkN/ANetwork
Attack ComplexityHighN/AHigh
Privileges RequiredNoneN/ANone
User InteractionRequiredN/ARequired
ScopeUnchangedN/AUnchanged
ConfidentialityLowN/AHigh
Integrity ImpactNoneN/AHigh
Availability ImpactHighN/AHigh

Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H

cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

Confidentiality

Technical Impact: Read Memory

An attacker could get secret values such as cryptographic keys, PII, memory addresses, or other information that could be used in additional attacks.

Confidentiality

Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism

Out-of-bounds memory could contain memory addresses or other information that can be used to bypass ASLR and other protection mechanisms in order to improve the reliability of exploiting a separate weakness for code execution.

Availability

Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart

An attacker could cause a segmentation fault or crash by causing memory to be read outside of the bounds of the buffer. This is especially likely when the code reads a variable amount of data and assumes that a sentinel exists to stop the read operation, such as a NUL in a string.

Other

Technical Impact: Varies by Context

The read operation could produce other undefined or unexpected results.

Frequently Asked Questions

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