CVE-2026-80924
Description
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Kerberos 5 (krb5) cryptography module. When handling derived key buffers, the crypto_krb5_prepare_encryption() and crypto_krb5_prepare_checksum() functions incorrectly use kfree() instead of kfree_sensitive() for memory deallocation. This oversight leaves sensitive key material in freed memory, potentially allowing an attacker to access this information.
Statement
Red Hat has classified this vulnerability as having a Moderate impact because residual cryptographic keys remain in deallocated slab memory rather than being exposed directly over a network, requiring local access or secondary vulnerabilities to extract. In typical deployments, an attacker cannot immediately retrieve the uncleared memory buffers without existing privileges or memory disclosure primitives on the host system. Consequently, while sensitive encryption data is not wiped upon release, the prerequisites for meaningful exploitation constrain the overall blast radius on affected Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems.
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.
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).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 5.5 | N/A | 7.5 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | None |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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