CVE-2026-11774
Description
An integer overflow flaw was found in the SASL I/O layer of 389 Directory Server (389-ds-base). In sasl_io_start_packet(), adding sizeof(uint32_t) to a crafted SASL packet length prefix of 0xFFFFFFFC causes unsigned wraparound to zero, bypassing the nsslapd-maxsasliosize limit and leading to a heap buffer overflow of up to approximately 2 megabytes of attacker-controlled data. After a successful SASL bind with integrity protection (SSF > 0), a remote attacker can cause a Denial of Service (DoS) or achieve Remote Code Execution (RCE). In FreeIPA and Red Hat Identity Management deployments, any domain user with a valid Kerberos ticket, enrolled host, or service account can trigger this vulnerability over the network. This flaw is independent of CVE-2025-14905, which patched schema.c only and did not modify sasl_io.c.
Statement
Red Hat rates this issue as Important. After a successful SASL bind with integrity protection, an authenticated attacker can send a SASL-framed packet whose length prefix wraps when processed in sasl_io_start_packet(), bypassing nsslapd-maxsasliosize and causing a heap buffer overflow of up to approximately two megabytes of attacker-controlled data.
This flaw is independent of CVE-2025-14905 (schema.c). Any domain user with a Kerberos ticket can trigger it remotely after GSSAPI authentication. Red Hat assigns C:L/I:L rather than Critical because remote code execution on current platforms with glibc 2.32+ is blocked by tcache safe linking; RCE was demonstrated on RHEL 8 with glibc 2.28 but required a heap address leak. Denial of service is reliable on all platforms.
Mitigation
No complete workaround exists; nsslapd-maxsasliosize is bypassed by the integer overflow. Mitigations that reduce exposure: restrict SASL mechanisms (disable DIGEST-MD5 if not required; GSSAPI cannot be disabled in FreeIPA/IdM without breaking Kerberos authentication); firewall LDAP ports (389/636) to trusted networks; monitor for SASL-framed packets with length prefix 0xFFFFFFFC through 0xFFFFFFFF; enable audit logging (nsslapd-auditlog-logging-enabled: on); on RHEL 8, upgrading glibc reduces RCE exploitability but does not eliminate DoS.
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 | 7.6 | N/A | 7.6 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | Low |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | Low | N/A | Low |
| Integrity Impact | Low | N/A | Low |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H
Red Hat CVSS v3 Score Explanation
C:L/I:L vs CVE-2026-11610 (C:H/I:H) because RCE on modern platforms (glibc 2.32+) is blocked by safe linking; RCE demonstrated on RHEL 8 only with heap address leak.
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory); DoS: Instability
This weakness can generally lead to undefined behavior and therefore crashes. When the calculated result is used for resource allocation, this weakness can cause too many (or too few) resources to be allocated, possibly enabling crashes if the product requests more resources than can be provided.
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 overflow/wraparound 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 the product's implicit security policy.
Availability,Other
Technical Impact: Alter Execution Logic; DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU)
If the overflow/wraparound occurs in a loop index variable, this could cause the loop to terminate at the wrong time - too early, too late, or not at all (i.e., infinite loops). With too many iterations, some loops could consume too many resources such as memory, file handles, etc., possibly leading to a crash or other DoS.
Access Control
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism
If integer values are used in security-critical decisions, such as calculating quotas or allocation limits, integer overflows can be used to cause an incorrect security decision.
Acknowledgements
This issue was discovered by Ian Murphy (Red Hat).
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